Director payments under scrutiny: transactions at an undervalue and preferences

In Manolete Partners plc v Whiteley [2025] EWHC 1544 (Ch) the High Court held that various payments made by a company to its former directors were either transactions at an undervalue or preferences. The payments had purportedly been made to repay directors’ loans or in payment of management fees.

This case usefully highlights the risks to directors where payments made to them by their company are not properly documented and the company subsequently becomes insolvent.

Transactions at an undervalue and preferences