The battle for Portland Cement Zambia started more than a decade ago when it was first contested for the majority shareholding at the Lusaka High Court. Dr. Rajan Mahtani via his company Finsbury Investments achieved majority shareholding and legal ownership of the Portland Cement factory via an original shareholding agreement. According to this shareholding agreement, Dr. Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments held 58 percent shares and Ventriglias owned Ital Terrazzo Limited held just 42 percent shares. While this shareholding pattern was accepted at first, the Ventriglia family suddenly rejected and questioned this shareholding agreement once Finsbury Investments was able to secure the required funds and for building the factory as well as development plans for future. This is no secret that it was a pre-planned strategy for taking over the control of the factory after it became worth the struggle. However, the latest surprise came when after more than a decade of case proceedings, justice Nkonde on behalf of the Lusaka High Court announced Ventriglias as the only shareholders of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. This was despite lack of evidence for supporting their claim and despite Dr. Rajan Mahtani presenting with all evidences and testimonials which were strong enough to support Dr. Mahtani’s claim.
Nevertheless, the next few stages were fruitful for Dr. Rajan Mahtani and Zambia endured that justice is given to the honest and ethical businessman of Zambia. First, it was higher Court of Appeal which reversed the decision from the Lusaka High Court and announced Dr. Mahtani as the actual owner of the factory. The next was the Supreme Court Zambia where the Ventriglia family decided to appeal against the higher Court of Appeal’s decision but failed eventually as their claim was invalid based on the legal and regulatory requirements of the Zambian law. In these ludicrous turn of events, one thing is certain. Dr. Rajan Mahtani remains the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory.