February 26, 2020 court of first instance - Orders
Claim No. CFI 087/2019
THE DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE COURTS
IN THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
BETWEEN
(1) HEALTH BAY INVESTMENT IN HEALTHCARE ENTERPRISES & DEVELOPMENT LLC
(2) ANGLO ARABIAN HEALTHCARE INVESTMENTS LLC
Claimants
and
DR KAMAL AKKACH
CONSENT ORDER
PENAL NOTICE
IF YOU THE DEFENDANT (DR KAMAL AKKACH) DISOBEY THIS ORDER YOU MAY BE HELD TO BE IN CONTEMPT OF COURT AND MAY BE IMPRISONED, FINED OR HAVE YOUR ASSETS SEIZED.
ANY OTHER PERSON WHO KNOWS OF THIS ORDER AND DOES ANYTHING WHICH HELPS OR PERMITS THE DEFENDANT TO BREACH THE TERMS OF THIS ORDER MAY ALSO BE HELD TO BE IN CONTEMPT OF COURT AND MAY BE IMPRISONED, FINED OR HAVE THEIR ASSETS SEIZED
UPON the First Claimant and the Second Claimant’s Claim Form dated 11 December 2019 in claim CFI-087-2019
AND UPON the First Claimant and the Second Claimant’s application for an interim injunction by Application Notice dated 12 December 2019, which is listed to be heard by the DIFC Court on 9 March 2020 (“the Application” and “the Hearing” respectively)
AND UPON the First Claimant and the Second Claimant giving the DIFC Court the undertakings set out in Schedule 1 of this Order
AND UPON the Defendant consenting to this Order without prejudice to any future contention by him that any term of the Shareholders’ Agreement is unenforceable
AND BY CONSENT IT IS ORDERED THAT:
1. The Hearing is vacated.
2. Save as set out in this Order, no order on the Application.
Interim Injunction
3. Until trial or further order of the DIFC Court, the Defendant shall not knowingly:
(a) canvass, solicit or approach, or attempt or cause to be canvassed, solicited or approached any Relevant Customer for the sale or supply of Relevant Products or Services in the United Arab Emirates;
(b) deal or contract with any Relevant Customer in relation to the sale or supply of Relevant Products or Services in the United Arab Emirates; or
(c) solicit, recruit or hire any person who is an officer, director, or employee engaged by any company within the Group from time to time.
4. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Order shall prevent the Defendant from providing medical care, treatment or services of whatever kind to any person where to refuse provision of such medical care, treatment or services would cause the Defendant to breach his professional, ethical or other similar obligations as a physician in any jurisdiction. Should this occur, the Defendant must provide written notification by email to the First Claimant and the Second Claimant by email sent to raja.g@amina-hospitals.com, informing the First Claimant and the Second Claimant of the Defendant’s reliance on paragraph (4) of this Order, within five (5) business days of providing such medical care, treatment or service. The Defendant shall not be required to identify the relevant patient or the medical care, treatment or service provided.
5. Until trial or further order of the DIFC Court, the Defendant shall keep and treat as strictly confidential and not any time disclose to any person who is not the First Claimant, the Second Claimant or Akkach Investments Limited, or use for a purpose other than the performance or enforcement of his obligations under or contemplated by the Shareholders’ Agreement, the Confidential Information in his possession or which may come within his knowledge during the term of the Shareholders’ Agreement or arising out of (i) the Shareholders’ Agreement or matters contained therein or (ii) the businesses, activities, or affairs of the First Claimant and its Affiliates or any of the First Claimant, the Second Claimant or Akkach Investments Limited.
6. The restrictions in paragraph 5 above shall not apply to the disclosure of Confidential Information if and to the extent:
(a) disclosure is required by applicable law or for the purpose of any judicial proceedings or by any regulatory authority, government body or recognised securities exchange, provided that the First Claimant, the Second Claimant or Akkach Investments Limited to which the information relates shall have been consulted and reasonable attempts to resist or limit such disclosure shall have been made, where practicable;
(b) the information is or becomes generally available to the public other than as a result of a breach of any undertaking or duty of confidentiality by any person;
(c) the information is disclosed on a strictly confidential basis by the Defendant to Akkach Investments Limited or to his or Akkach Investments Limited’s directors, officers, employees, professional advisors, consultants, auditors, bankers, lenders and investors for the legitimate pursuit or conduct of business as indirect shareholder (in the Defendant’s case) and direct shareholder (in Akkach Investments Limited’s case) of the First Claimant or the advancement of the same;
(d) each of the First Claimant, the Second Claimant or Akkach Investments Limited to which the information relates has given its prior written consent to the contents and manner of the disclosure.
7. For the avoidance of doubt nothing in this Order shall prevent the Defendant from disclosing any Confidential Information to his properly instructed legal representatives for the purposes of conducting any legal proceedings in which he and the First Claimant or the Second Claimant are a party.
Interpretation of this Order
8. In this Order, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
“Affiliates”
means, with respect to any Person, any other Person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, Controls, is Controlled by, or is under common Control with, such first Person and if such first Person is a natural Person including that Person’s Immediate Family provided that for the purposes of this Order (i) neither the First Claimant nor any of its Controlled Affiliates shall be deemed to be an Affiliate of either the Defendant or Akkach Investments Limited, and (ii) neither the Defendant nor Akkach Investments Limited shall be deemed to be an Affiliate of the First Claimant;
“Confidential Information”
means any information held by the Defendant which is: (a) related to or connected with or arising out of (i) the Shareholders’ Agreement or the matters contained therein or (ii) the business, activities or affairs of the First Claimant , the Second Claimant or the Group and (b) not generally known to the public and is treated as confidential and proprietary, including all know-how, competitively sensitive or secret business information, marketing know-how, the terms of the Shareholders’ Agreement or any agreement of the First Claimant, and any other documents referred to therein, development plans, confidential business or future plans, customer lists strategic and tactical business planning materials, operational security information, source-codes and other technical information;
“Control”
means (i) the legal or beneficial ownership, directly or indirectly, of fifty percent (50%) or more of the share capital or other ownership interests of any Person, (ii) the ability, directly or indirectly, to appoint half or more of the board or other controlling body of any Person, or (iii) the ability, directly or indirectly, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of any Person. A Person shall be deemed to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a Person if the consent or approval of such Person is required with respect to all or substantially all material decisions (and “Controlled” and “Controlling” shall be construed accordingly);
“Dr Akkach Entities”
means together Health Bay DMCC, Dermatology Bay Clinic DMCC, Health Day Surgery Center LLC, Health Bay AlThanya, Health Bay Mirdif, Health Bay Motor City, and Comprehensive Diagnostic Center and “Dr Akkach Entity” means any of them;
“Group”
means the First Claimant and its Affiliates (including any of their branches) and “Group Entity” shall be construed accordingly;
“Person”
means any company, general or limited partnership, limited liability company, firm, unincorporated association, branch, joint venture, trust, estate, natural person (including that person’s legal personal representatives), Governmental Authority or other organization, in each case whether or not having a legal personality and whether in its own or a representative capacity and including its successors and assigns;
“Relevant Customer”
means any Person who at any time during the term of the Shareholders’ Agreement or the period of eighteen (18) months immediately preceding the Closing Date of 12 February 2015: (i) is or was negotiating with the Defendant, Akkach Investments Limited, any Group Entity or any Dr Akkach Entity for the supply by it of Relevant Products or Services; (ii) is or was a patient, client or customer of the Defendant, Akkach Investments Limited, any Group Entity or any Dr Akkach Entity; or (iii) is or was a Person to whom the Defendant, Akkach Investments Limited, any Group Entity or any Dr Akkach Entity had proposed to supply the Relevant Products or Services
“Relevant Products or Services”
means (i) products or services that are supplied by the Claimants or any Group Entity or that are competitive with or of the type supplied by the Claimants or any Group Entity at any time during the term of the Shareholders’ Agreement and the period of eighteen (18) months immediately preceding the Closing Date of 12 February 2015; and (ii) products or services that are under active and current development by the Claimants or any Group Entity during the term of the Shareholders’ Agreement or at the date of termination of the Shareholders’ Agreement or competitive with such products or services;
“Shareholders’ Agreement”
means the shareholders’ agreement dated 12 February 2015 between the First Claimant, the Defendant, Akkach Investments Limited and the Second Claimant.
Effect of this Order
9. A Defendant who is an individual who is ordered not to do something must not do it himself or herself or in any other way. The Defendant must not do it through others acting on the Defendant’s behalf or on the Defendant’s instructions or with the Defendant’s encouragement.
Liberty to apply
10. The First Claimant, the Second Claimant and the Defendant each shall have liberty to apply to the DIFC Court generally in relation to this Order.
11. The First Claimant and the Second Claimant shall serve this Order on the Defendant by way of service on his legal representatives, Pinsent Masons LLP, by email sent to Seema.Bono@pinsentmasons.com.
Costs
12. The costs of the Application are reserved.
Issued by:
Nour Hineidi
Date of issue: 26 February 2020
Time: 3pm
SCHEDULE 1 – UNDERTAKINGS
1. The First Claimant and Second Claimant undertake that if the DIFC Court later finds that that this Order has caused loss to the Defendant, and decides that the Defendant should be compensated for that loss, the First Claimant and Second Claimant will comply with any Order the DIFC Court may make.