Charles Colquhoun

A judge has allowed a 50 per cent fee uplift for counsel in an epic fight over lucrative tenements in the Pilbara region, but says the hourly fees of solicitors from the likes of Allens, Clayton Utz and Corrs were already well above market rate.

Super fund trustee REST Nominees is the first of the Dexus bloc of APAC shareholders to challenge a finding that a default notice issued by the board of the airport operator was valid.

A judge has refused a bid by the director of property developer Vantager to stay orders to sell his property while he appeals a decision finding him liable for a “brazen fraud” after a $45 million sale was negotiated for a Denham Court property that was only worth $10.8 million. 

The forced divestiture of Dexus' stake in airport operator APAC will proceed, after a court on Friday discharged injunctions temporarily blocking the sale amid a dispute over the disclosure of confidential information.

Dexus has stood down executives, sacked its advisers and launched a review of its $7 billion infrastructure division, following last week's judgment upholding the validity of a default notice by Melbourne Airport's operator.

Dexus has lost its case over the validity of a default notice issued by Melbourne Aiport's operator, with a judge saying the real estate asset manager breached the company's confidentiality and "irrevocably undermined" its relationship with fellow shareholders.

Heads may roll after a court on Friday rejected the evidence of key Dexus employees at trial over a breach of APAC's shareholder deed, in a ruling that revealed some insiders suspected the "embarassing blunder" would come back to bite.

A judge said Tuesday evidence in a case over the sale of a stake in Melbourne Airport's operator might justify a finding that shareholder Dexus acted unethically and immorally. But whether such a finding was relevant to the validity of a default notice at the centre of the suit is another matter.

APAC issued a default notice to Dexus' infrastructure fund manager for a purported breach of a shareholder agreement during a share sales process to "get rid of" it, a trial has heard.

Previewing Monday's closing arguments in its legal tussle with the operator of Melbourne Airport, co-owner Dexus says it won't deny a long-term model given to potential share purchasers was confidential. But here's the kicker -- the disclosure didn't run afoul of its shareholder agreement, it says.