Woolworths’ triumph in court battle with Lowe’s over Masters joint venture

IN A win for Woolworths, the retailer’s courtroom stoush with Lowe’s over the failed Masters joint venture has been sent to arbitration.

THE courtroom stoush between Woolworths and its US-based joint venture partner in the collapsed Masters hardware chain has been sent to arbitration.

Woolworths has secured a stay of Federal Court proceedings brought by Lowe’s seeking a wind-up by liquidator of the Masters business.

The US hardware giant accused its Australian partner of acting “oppressively” in its termination of the joint venture.

On Tuesday Judge Lindsay Foster granted a stay of the proceedings and vacated future hearing dates, with Woolworths and Lowe’s to now seek to resolve all matters in the dispute — except the final question of whether a winding up order is to be made — via arbitration.

The result is a triumph for Woolworths, whose $1.5 billion exit from home improvement sector, with the $750 million sale of 82 Masters stores to a consortium of property investors, was put at risk by the court proceedings. Had Lowe’s been successful in pushing to wind up Masters, the deal may have fallen through.

The dispute will now be heard behind closed doors by former High Court justice Murray Gleeson in a confidential arbitration.