The $200 million float of the online retailing company that owns the Deals.com.au and Cudo websites, AussieCommerce, appears to be back on track after a bitter legal stoush between the company's founding shareholders was settled.
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Deals.com.au former national head of sales Adam Glezer had accused AussieCommerce senior executives Adam Schwab and Jeremy Same of misleading and deceptive conduct after they allegedly forced him to sell his 19.8 per cent stake in Deals.com.au for $282,000 while knowing the business was worth up to $25 million.
Details of the settlement are confidential but it is understood the AussieCommerce group has paid Mr Glezer $1.96 million to close out the dispute.
Mr Glezer was initially seeking the return of his shares, which he now believes are worth $5 million.
The settlement offer was formalised on Thursday at the Supreme Court of Victoria and the matter, which began in 2014, has been discontinued.
AussieCommerce was hurtling towards a $200 million float last year when the shareholder dispute emerged.
The case had cast doubt on the structure of the float and would have left AussieCommerce having to disclose the matter in its yet-to-be-released prospectus.
However, it is understood the company is still assessing its options, including whether to float, or pursue acquisitions or a private sale agreement.
The settlement deal comes as interest in Australian internet based businesses is running white hot after the purchase of Menulog this month by Britain's Just Eat for a staggering $855 million.
Mr Glezer had alleged Mr Schwab and Mr Same said they would "f--- him over" and "bleed him dry" if he did not sell them the shares for $282,000.
Mr Schwab and Mr Same denied ever telling Mr Glezer they would "f--- him over" or "bleed him dry".
Instead they told the court their comments had been taken out of context and that they had actually said that they could "f--- him over" but they didn't want to and instead wanted to "find a fair way to get everything sorted" and "do the right thing" by their then-colleague.
Mr Schwab welcomed the resolution to the legal matter when contacted by Fairfax Media.
"We're really happy with the result," he said, declining to comment further.
Mr Glezer's lawyer Jarrod McPherson, of Sackville Wilks, also declined to comment.
AussieCommerce has more than 250 employees and has appeared on BRW's rankings of fast-growing businesses for the past two years.
The business continues to grow through acquisitions, including its purchase last month of the Australian and New Zealand operations of United States-based online deals group Living Social. The Living Social deal followed on from its 2014 acquisition of luxury online retailer brandsExclusive, which it purchased from APN News and Media.
Following the deals, AussieCommerce owns a suite of 12 online businesses and claims an audience of more than 8 million people.
The success of the business has led to Mr Schwab and Mr Same being listed on BRW's Young Rich list with a wealth of $33m each.
