Zambezi Portland Cement has been contested by two major business houses in Zambia for the past decade. These business houses are Finsbury Investments which is owned by noted businessman and philanthropist Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani and Ital Terrazzo Limited which is owned by the Ventriglias. The cement manufacturing factory was illegally taken over by the Ventriglias after which, a case was registered at the Lusaka High Court. For almost a decade, case proceedings went on within the court. During the month of May 2018, the final judgment at the Lusaka High Court was announced. The judge, Justice Nkonde, delivered the judgment against Dr. Mahtani’s claims. This prompted Dr. Mahtani to approach Court of Appeal for further justice
On 31st January 2019, Dr. Rajan Mahtani finally received justice after the court announced the decision in his favor. The justice was given by Justice Mwinde and he effectively reversed the judgment at the Lusaka High Court by announcing that Dr. Mahtani is the majority owner of Zambezi Portland. The Justice also denounced the judge below him by saying that the judge was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders when the evidence was completely opposite.
As per the judgment by the Lusaka High Court, Finsbury Investments holds 58 percent shares at the Zambezi Portland Cement and are the majority shareholders. On the other hand, Ventriglias hold 42 percent shares at the factory and are minority shareholders with no ownership over the factory. This decision is also aligned with the original Shareholders Agreement.
Forgery allegations were also discarded by the justice by saying that the practice of mechanically placing signatures for business transactions is a common approach across Zambezi Portland and even Ventriglia family member Claudio Ventriglia involved in similar practice. Furthermore, the court of appeal has provided a timeline of three months from the date of judgment for both parties. During this time, all share regularization process must be completed and new shareholders agreement must be established in practice.