Ratio Decidendi
A counter-offer destroys the original offer, which cannot thereafter be accepted. When an offeree responds with a counter-offer rather than an unconditional acceptance, the original offer is terminated and a new offer is made which the original offeror is free to accept or reject.
Fapte
Wrench offered to sell his farm to Hyde for £1,000. Hyde responded with an offer to purchase at £950. Wrench rejected this counter-offer. Hyde then purported to accept the original offer of £1,000 and sought specific performance of the contract.
Rezumatul hotărârii
Lord Langdale MR held that no contract existed. When Hyde made his counter-offer of £950, he destroyed the original offer of £1,000. That original offer was no longer capable of acceptance. Hyde's subsequent purported acceptance of the £1,000 offer was therefore ineffective, as there was no subsisting offer to accept.
Citate cheie
"Under the circumstances stated in this bill, I think there exists no valid binding contract between the parties for the purchase of the property."
— Lord Langdale MR
Tratament ulterior
Consistently followed as the leading authority on counter-offers destroying original offers.
Applied in Stevenson, Jacques & Co v McLean (1880) to distinguish counter-offers from mere requests for information.