Preemption Right in Preliminary Agreement Not Activated by Subsequent Sale Without Formal Notice

A party sought to annul a sale of real property by exercising a right of preemption that arose from a preliminary agreement establishing a right of first refusal, claiming the seller had sold the property to a third party without offering it to them first. The court rejected the appeal, reasoning that the right of preemption established by the preliminary agreement was not automatically revived or rendered effective by the subsequent sale to the third party because the agreement had specified that the right could only be exercised upon a formal notification of the intention to sell, a notification which had never been properly given for the transaction in question.