Multiplex had appealed against an earlier decision by Federal Court judge Ray Finkelstein which found against Multiplex's argument that the class action had been incorrectly constructed and should be dismissed.
However, three judges - Robert French, Kevin Lindgren and Peter Jacobson - upheld Justice Finkelstein's decision.
Maurice Blackburn principal Andrew Watson, whose firm is handling the class action, said that he hoped that Multiplex would not seek a further appeal or take action on grounds of procedures.
Mr Watson said Multiplex had contended the definition of the "class" was inappropriate over the question of whether all claimants had signed a funding agreement with the litigation funder.
The case is being funded by a Canadian company, International Litigation Funding Partners. This is the third win for the claimants.
Early this year they had another victory when another Federal Court judge ruled that lawyers for the action should be given access to Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) files. Multiplex could appeal again against yesterday's decision, but at this stage the company would not comment on whether it would seek another appeal.
Instead, a spokeswoman for Multiplex, Viv Bower, said: "We are disappointed with the decision and we are considering our options. We will, of course, continue to vigorously defend the action."
The shareholders alleged that Multiplex failed to keep them up to date with the disastrous Wembley Stadium project, which was subject to construction delays, leading eventually to a loss of $319.8 million recorded in the 2005-06 financial year.
The proceeding was brought by Dawson Nominees on behalf of investors who bought Multiplex shares between August 2, 2004, and May 30, 2005, during which its share price plummeted.
Most of the 45 claimants were retail investors, some with losses of less than $5000, but others were institutions whose losses ran into the "tens of millions".
Multiplex has since been taken over by Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management in October and was delisted from the ASX this week, four years after it was listed in 2003.
Mr Watson said the delisting of Multiplex had not changed the fact that Multiplex continued as a business entity.
"We are proceeding with our action, but we are at a fairly early stage.
"There remains a lot of work to be done. In the next 12 months we will shift our focus from procedures to substantive preparation for the case."
The group started the class action a year ago.
Mr Watson noted that the Aristocrat class action took four years to conclude, but he hoped that the Multiplex case would take a shorter time.
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