The Court of First Instance granted the application of the fifth defendant to stay the action commenced by the plaintiff, even though the plaintiff was not a signatory of the contract containing the arbitration clause. It explained that under Delaware law, which undisputedly applied to the arbitration agreement, nonsignatories may rely on arbitration clauses in situations of agency and equitable estoppel. Here, the fifth defendant could invoke the equitable estoppel doctrine, because the claims brought by the plaintiff were inextricably connected with the claims made against a signatory.

(The stay application of another defendant was granted by the Court in HONG KONG 2026-1.)