TMH, Sanger in legal disputes

The Market Herald founder Jag Sanger has fought back against legal proceedings brought by the HotCopper parent company by starting his own court action.

Mr Sanger started legal proceedings against The Market Herald this week, submitting documents under a ‘breach of general protections’ fair work application in the Federal Court of Australia’s Western Australia registry.

His application has been made under the Fair Work Act for alleging dismissal in contravention of a general protection, according to the federal court system.

Mr Sanger’s move follows The Market Herald’s own legal action against the former managing director, who resigned in December.

In early July, The Market Herald lodged documents for a fair work application against Mr Sanger, also listed on the federal court system as a ‘breach of general protections’ type.

Despite multiple requests, Business News was unable to confirm any details of The Market Herald’s court action under the revised Federal Court rules that prevent non-parties from accessing the documents.

Mr Sanger resigned from The Market Herald in December, following an attempt by the company board to oust him.

His exit came three weeks after he was put on leave when the board removed Mr Sanger as managing director but kept him as a non-executive director.

The Market Herald has also been in the spotlight after The Takeovers Panel found circumstances over two entitlement offers at the company, from August 2022 to January this year, were unacceptable.

The company acquired Gumtree, Carsguide and Autotrader websites for $86 million and sought to raise funds to cover the acquisition during this time.

In May, the Takeovers Panel released its findings over David Argyle, who controlled a big stake in The Market Herald, and his son Gavin Argyle, another substantial shareholder and company director.

The panel found the father-son pair “became associated for the purpose of controlling or influencing the composition of TMH’s board or the conduct of its affairs”.

It also found further associations with other people, including two employees who took up shares under the entitlement offer and The Market Herald non-executive chairman Alec Pismiris.

Mr Sanger is represented by Baldwin Legal while The Market Herald has engaged HLS Legal.

Both Mr Sanger and The Market Herald have declined to comment.