It was truly breaking news on 31st January 2019 when the Court of Appeal ruled the final judgment in favor of Dr. Rajan Mahtani. The case pertains to Zambezi Portland Cement, a noted cement manufacturing factory in Zambia which has been contested by two biggest business houses in Zambia. One of them is Dr. Rajan Mahtani, a noted businessman and philanthropist. The other contender is Ventriglia family, owner of Ital Terrazzo Limited in Zambia. The case was taken to Court of Appeal after the original decision at the Lusaka High Court went sideways. Justice Nkonde from Lusaka High Court declared on May 2018 that the Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. However, this decision was misdirected prompting Dr. Mahtani to approach Court of Appeal.
The Judge from the Court of Appeal announced that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury investments is majority shareholder of Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias are minority shareholders with 42 percent shares. This shareholding pattern is in line with the original shareholders agreement which was established in the year 2005. While giving this judgment, Justice Mwinde from Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders without having any proof or evidence. With this judgment from the Court of Appeal, it is finalized that Finsbury Investments is the majority shareholder of Zambezi Portland Cement.
Furthermore, the Court of Appeal during the judgment process also revealed that Finsbury Investments paid a sum of K580,000,000 with interest to the court as commercial registry. This commercial registration was done in compliance with the judgment from the Court. At the same time, Finsbury Investments has also claimed a sum of K1 billion against payment made towards entire share capital of Zambezi Portland. Also, the Court of Appeal has given a timeline of three months from the judgement date to finalize on the process of sales regularization.