Finsbury Investments Given Majority Shareholding Of Portland Cement By Court Of Appeal

Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is a noted businessman, philanthropist and charity worker in Zambia. For the past ten years, he had been fighting for the legal takeover of the ZPC. The final judgement on the case was recently announced. However, Dr. Rajan Mahtani had to approach another court to receive justice. The case was originally registered at the Lusaka High Court. The judge at the Lusaka High Court, who announced the final judgement during the month of May, 2018 was justice Nkonde. Despite sharing evidences and testimonials, Justice Nkonde from the Lusaka High Court announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. To counter this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani then approached the Court of Appeal.

 

The Court of Appeal announced its final judgement on 31st January 2019. As per this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement company as his company; Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the factory. On the other hand, Ventriglias are only minority shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement as their company, Ital Terrazzo Limited, holds just 42 percent shares at the factory. This shareholding pattern announced by the Court of Appeal judge aligns with the original shareholders agreement. Based on this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani becomes the legal owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. 

Furthermore, the judge at the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders as this decision was biased and misdirected. A timeline of three months from the date of the judgement has been provided during which all share sales related activities must be completed.

Court of Appeal Announces Owner Of Zambezi Portland Cement, Dr. Rajan Mahtani Wins Case

The day 31st January 2019 has been extremely remarkable for Dr. Rajan Mahtani. On this day, he was finally given justice for the long battle he has been fighting for the legal takeover of the Portland Cement Zambia. The cement factory has been contested by two major business parties in Zambia, one of them being Dr. Mahtani. It is a known fact that the case was initially registered at the Lusaka High Court where it went for more than ten years without any firm decision. The final decision from the Lusaka High Court came only during the month of May, 2018. However, this decision was extremely controversial as the judge from the Lusaka High Court gave the final decision that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. 

To counter this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani was left with no option than to approach the Court of Appeal, one of the highest court systems in Zambia. The judge at the Court of Appeal was Justice Mwinde and he announced the final judgement on 31st January 2019. This judgement was given based on the evidences, testimonials and other factual details shared by the both teams. As per this decision, 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 42 percent shares at the factory and is the minority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement. Based on this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the legal owner of the factory. 

By giving this decision, the judge at the Court of Appeal effectively reversed the judgement from the Lusaka High Court.