Billionaire Gina Rinehart has indicated she will withdraw her defamation suit against the Nine Network over TV program House of Hancock.

Australia’s richest person may instead sue the show’s production company

Mrs Rinehart’s legal representatives told the Supreme Court on Friday that the mining magnate would proceed against production company Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder under Australian Consumer Law, claiming deceptive and misleading conduct.

• ‘Hancock’ show over but Rinehart still on a mission
• Hancock show must go on
• Rinehart tries to scuttle drama

In March, after a failed injunction to have the show dumped by Nine, Mrs Rinehart took legal action against the network, claiming the two-part series maliciously defamed her.

At the time, Mrs Rinehart’s solicitor Mark Wilks labelled the series “twisted” and “offensive”.

Mr Wilks said it featured scenes, such as one where the character of Mrs Rinehart upset her father in his hospital bed, that did not occur in reality and were “entirely false”.

House of Hancock, which drew more than two million viewers per episode when it aired on Nine in February, recounted the family drama of one of Australia’s wealthiest mining dynasties.