Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia who has been fighting for the legal takeover of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory for the past ten years. Dr. Rajan Mahtani has more than three decades of successful business experience during which he has been able to establish numerous successful ventures. He is also the owner of Portland Cement Zambia, a cement manufacturing factory for which he contested at the Lusaka High Court and then Court of Appeal.
The case proceeding at the Lusaka High Court was a disappointment. Dr. Rajan Mahtani registered the case initially at the Lusaka High Court where it took the judge ten years for providing a final conclusion. However, the final conclusion itself was disappointing as Justice Nkonde from the Lusaka High Court announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. After this controversial judgement, the case was taken to Court of Appeal where the final judgement was given by Justice Mwinde.
The Court of Appeal announced its final judgement on 31st January 2019. According to this judgement, Finsbury Investments which is a company owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani owns 58 percent shares at the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. On the other hand, Ital Terrazzo Limited which is an entity owned by the Ventriglias hold 42 percent shares at the factory and is the minority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. This shareholding pattern aligns with the original Shareholders Agreement which was established in the year 2007. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal judge effectively reversed the judgement from the Lusaka High Court judge by giving this judgement.
The court of Appeal judge has provided a timeline of three months from the date of the judgement during which all parties are required to complete the share regularization process as per the new decision.
