Peter Barber, now CEO of Atomos, has also taken fellow co-founders Grant Petty and Douglas Clarke to court

Peter Barber Landscape

Blackmagic co-founder Peter Barber has taken the company and fellow co-founders Grant Petty and Douglas Clarke to court in Australia. 

Barber, who is now CEO of fellow Australian video technology company Atomos, alleges that the company, Petty and Clarke have denied him dividends, access to information about the business, and the ability to sell his shares, reports ABC. 

Court documents seen by ABC show that Barber first looked at selling his 28% stake in Blackmagic a decade ago, and a statement of claim filed by Barber alleges Petty said he would “fight back” against shares sold to a third party, and promised to be “the most hostile f***ing agent you can possibly imagine,” as well as saying, “I’m simply not gonna do that because it’s gonna f***ing destroy the place.”

Barber says that since he was removed as a director of the company in 2016, when the company told the Australian Securities and Investments Commission that he had failed to perform his executive duties, he hasn’t received a salary or dividends. Barber’s lawyers claim he has 98m Australian dollars (£51m) locked into Blackmagic, adding that venture capital firm Five V Capital had looked at investing in Blackmagic, which would have valued the company at 900 million - 1.5 billion Australian dollars (£470m-£784m).

Barber has asked the court to get Petty and Clarke to buy out his share in the company, facilitate the sale to a third party, or wind up the company entirely. According to ABC, Petty and Clarke are, “considering making an application that could require Mr Barber to set aside a sum of money to pay their legal costs should his case fail,” and will file a defence next month. 

Petty and Clarke are due to file a defence next month, and are yet to comment on the case. Blackmagic have also been contacted for comment. Barber’s current company, Atomos, said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, “[The proceedings] have no impact on Atomos, its operations, strategy, financial position or governance, and no impact on Mr Barber’s ability to perform his duties.”

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