English High Court Denies Freezing Order in Gulfstream G700 Brokerage Commission Dispute, Orders £250,000 Security for Costs
Why It MattersThe rulings clarify how English courts weigh a claimant's financial standing and evidence of asset dissipation in aviation brokerage commission disputes tied to major business jet transactions.
The English High Court issued two rulings in an aviation brokerage dispute over an alleged unpaid commission linked to the May 2025 sale of a Gulfstream G700. Claimant Freestream Aircraft Limited alleges it is owed commission under a brokerage agreement and that competing market participants induced a contractual breach; liability is disputed.
In the first ruling, First Defendant Seven Hundred Ltd obtained an order requiring Freestream to provide £250,000 in staged security for costs, with the Court finding grounds for concern that Freestream could not satisfy an adverse costs award. The Court noted Freestream's filed accounts showed a modest net asset position, that letters from its accountants and bankers offered only a partial picture based on undisclosed management information, and that Freestream had already incurred legal fees exceeding £1 million in the proceedings.
In a separate application, Freestream sought a freezing injunction following the sale of The Jet Business' brokerage operation to a Flexjet group company and that business's subsequent restructuring. The Court accepted Freestream had established a sufficiently arguable underlying claim but refused the freezing order, finding no real risk of asset dissipation since the sale had been negotiated over an extended period, pre-dated the litigation, and was a genuine arm's-length transaction. The Court held that a substantial corporate sale or restructuring does not, without more, constitute unjustified dissipation of assets, and declined to infer such risk from the defendant's refusal to disclose confidential transaction details or future investment plans.
