After A Decade Of Wait, Dr. Rajan Mahtani Was Given Majority Shareholding Of Portland Cement Zambia

On 31st January 2019, Dr. Rajan Mahtani was finally given justice for the long-awaited Portland Cement Zambia case. Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman, philanthropist and charity worker in Zambia. He has more than three decades of successful business experience during which he established numerous notable business in Zambia. Some of these business ventures included Finsbury Investments, Mahtani Group of Companies and Finance Bank Zambia. He has also claimed the ownership of Portland Cement Zambia, a noted cement-manufacturing factory for which Dr. Rajan Mahtani fought for more than a decade. 

The case of Portland Cement was initially registered at the Lusaka High Court. Justice Nkonde gave the final decision from the Lusaka High Court during the month of May, 2018. However, this decision was extremely controversial as it stated 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 is among the highest judiciary and legal systems in Zambia. The judge at the Court of Appeal was justice Mwinde who gave the final decision after looking into all evidences and testimonials associated with the case. According to this decision, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited holds just 42 percent shares at the factory and are the minority shareholders without any legal ownership. This decision from the Court of Appeal aligned with the original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007 and further confirms that Dr. Rajan Mahtani is the actual owner of the factory.