Supreme Court cements Patels’ Presscane stake

Businessperson and retired politician Rolf Patel got his wish after the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal yesterday ruled that he alongside his partners are entitled to 49.9 percent shares in Presscane Limited.

Delivering the judgement in a 19-year-old case between Rolf Patel trading as Cane Products Limited and others versus Press Corporation Limited (PCL) on the ownership of Presscane Limited, three judges of appeal (JA) who represented six others who retired, noted that the remaining 50.1 percent shares belong to conglomerate PCL.

The panel comprising, Chief Justice Rizine Mzikamanda and JAs Lovemore Chikopa and Frank Kapanda further ordered that Patel and others, namely Reuben Patel, Stanley Patel and Rolf Patel Junior, who were shareholders of Cane Products, be entitled to dividends Presscane has been making for the past 19 years.

The judgement was delivered via Zoom, but was only accessible to parties to the case.

In an interview yesterday, one of Patel’s lawyers, Alexius Nampota, said PCL has been denying the Patels their 49.9 percent stake.

“They [Patels] were not being paid dividends as shareholders, so the court has ordered that they should, for the period they have been denied,” he said.

Nampota could not give details of how much dividends his clients are expected to get, saying he is yet to read the entire judgement and that they will need to make calculations.

Reacting to the judgement in a written response, Rolf Patel said he was happy that the Supreme Court upheld their contention of having a shareholding of 49.9 percent.

He said there was no clear proof that PCL paid its contribution in Presscane Limited.

“Overall, we are very happy that the court has agreed with our position and we can forge ahead and rectify the errors that were made and reposition the company to maximise the opportunities that exist,” Rolf Patel said.

In a separate interview, one of the lawyers representing PCL, Davis Njobvu said PCL did not deny that the Patels held 49.9 percent shares in PressCane Limited, but that the Patels wanted PCL not to be a shareholder of Presscane Limited.

He said the High Court of Malawi in 2014 dismissed the Patels’ application and upheld that PCL is a shareholder because it made a contribution.

Said Njobvu: “So, the Patels took that case all the way to Supreme Court. And today the Supreme Court just delivered a judgement in which they seem to have upheld what was found in the High Court Commercial Division that, indeed Press Corporation continues to be the shareholding in the business.”

On the dividends, he could not comment further saying he has not read the actual full judgement.

Cane Products Limited and PCL entered into Joint Venture Agreement in 2001 in which PCL was given a majority shares of 50.1 percent against 49.9 percent.

During the time of this venture, according to the court records, Cane Products Limited had already established the company by investing heavily in capital assets.

Investigations which Price Water House made revealed that all PCL shares were turned into loans.