The Court of Appeal announced its final decision on Portland Cement Zambia on 31st January 2019. According to this decision, Finsbury Investments was found to be the majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement with 58 percent shares. On the other hand, Ventriglias who own Ital Terrazzo Limited were found to own 42 percent shares and were the minority shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. Finsbury Investments is a company owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani who fought for the legal takeover of the Portland Cement Zambia for more than ten years. While giving this decision, the judge from the Court of Appeal also said that the judge below him was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as the only shareholders without any evidence as this decision was against the interest of the public policy.
While announcing the decision for Zambezi Portland Cement, Justice Mwinde from the Court of Appeal also made some revelations associated with the case. Finsbury Investments made a payment of K580,000,000 with interest to the Court. This was in compliance with the judgement and with the objective of commercial registration. At the same time, Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments have also claimed a sum of K1 billion with interest on the Zambezi Portland Cement. This claim has been made with respect to the entire share capital issues of the cement manufacturing factory. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal also confirmed this claim from Finsbury Investment with the share transfers conducted during January 2007 and December 2006. Thus, the claims have been validated and the final decision on this claim is expected soon.
Furthermore, several news publications came up with information and news contradicting the judgement from the Court of Appeal judge. However, these publications and news faded quickly since several inconsistencies were found within these news publications.