Court Of Appeal Judge Announces Finsbury Investments As Majority Shareholder Of ZPC

On 31st January 2019, the decision regarding Portland Cement Zambia was announced. The decision was given by Justice Mwinde from the Court of Appeal, during the morning hours of the court session. By giving this decision, the judge from the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the judgement from the Lusaka High Court. The case of Portland Cement Zambia was initially registered at the Lusaka High Court by Dr. Rajan Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia. After the judge from the Lusaka High Court failed to give proper judgement for the case, Dr. Mahtani approached the Court of Appeal. 

According to the judgement from the Court of Appeal, Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory and is the majority shareholder of the factory. On the other hand, Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory and is the minority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement. It should be noted here that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owns the Finsbury Investments and Ital Terrazzo Limited is an entity owned by the Ventriglias. Based on this shareholding pattern, Dr. Rajan Mahtani becomes the legal owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. This decision from the Court of Appeal aligns with the original Shareholders Agreement which was established in the year 2007. 

The judge from the Court of Appeal condemned the decision from the Lusaka High Court judge as the judgement was inappropriate and misdirected. Furthermore, all forgery related allegations were discarded by the judge and a timeline of three months from the date of the judgement was given during which, all share transfer and share sales related activities must be completed.