Displaying items by tag: Legal

India: Binani Cement's committee of creditors (COC) has accepted a bid by UltraTech Cement. The COC will now submit UltraTech Cement’s plan to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for approval, according to the Times of India newspaper. However, the Supreme Court is also looking at the case following a petition by rival bidder Dalmia Bharat.

UltraTech Cement made a direct bid of US$1.12bn for the bankrupt Binani Cement following an auction in March 2018 that was originally won by Dalmia Bharat. Dalmia Bharat has disputed UltraTech Cement’s offer and the two companies have conducted legal campaigns to reinforce their respective claims.

Spain: FYM, a subsidiary of HeidelbergCement, is facing a potential legal battle to expand the quarry at its La Araña cement plant near Malaga. It has applied to the local government for a compulsory order to buy land at the site, according to the Diario Sur newspaper. FYM says that it has the authorisation to use up to 176 hectares near its plant for mineral extraction but that it is only using 43 hectares at present. The agreement in place allows the cement producer to buy land on a compulsory basis if an agreement can’t be reached with the land owners. However, the current land owner and FYM have disagreed over the price.

Zambia: The Ventriglia family has been awarded full ownership of Zambezi Portland Cement by the High Court of Zambia. The resolution follows a 10-year battle between the Ventriglias and businessman Rajan Mahtani, according to the Times of Zambia. Mahtani’s company Finsbury Investments claimed a majority share in the cement producer but the Ventriglia family objected, asserting full ownership of the company.

Barbados: Trinidad Cement and its Barbadian subsidiary Arawak Cement have taken legal action against the Government of Barbados over allegedly breaking the Caribbean Community Single Market and Economy. The complaint relates to accusations that the country broke import duties on cement, according to Barbados Today. The government has been accused of reducing import tariffs to 5% from 60%.

Arawak Cement and competitor Rock Hard Cement have battled for the local market since the entry of the latter company in the market in 2015. Trinidad Cement has also taken action against Turkish cement importers previously.

France: Sherpa and the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) have argued that Lafarge should be indicted for complicity in crimes against humanity. The non-government organisations (NGO) have made the argument for the accusation in a memorandum to investigative judges examining Lafarge Syria’s conduct. Despite the indictment of several Lafarge executives the NGOs want to the charges to apply to Lafarge itself as a company. The cement producer allegedly paid extremist groups to keep a cement plant operational after the outbreak of war in the country.

“Companies have the means to fuel armed conflicts by doing business with regimes or armed groups who commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. The fight against multinationals’ impunity will necessarily imply holding them to account, in particular in countries where parent companies operate and control their subsidiaries’ activities worldwide. Access to justice for thousands of victims of armed conflicts depends on it,” said Sandra Cossart, director of Sherpa.

Pakistan: The Peshawar High Court has stopped construction of a cement plant by Fecto Cement at Palai in Malakand. Opponents of the project cited environmental and health concerns, according to the News International newspaper. Fecto Cement announced plans for its new 6000t/day plant in February 2018.

France: Jacob Waerness, the former security chief at Lafarge Syria, has been arrested in Paris. He was taken into custody in early May 2018 while transferring between planes at the Charles de Gaulle airport, according to Le Monde newspaper. He was arrested on charges of financing terrorism. Waerness worked as the head of security for Lafarge in Syria from 2011 to 2013. He published a book about his experiences in 2016.

Pakistan: Cement producers have proposed finding an alternative water source in a case about the Katas Raj Temples being adjudicated by the Supreme Court. They have also agreed to pay the Punjab government for any water they use until then, according to the Statesman newspaper. The court was investigating allegations that the pond at the Hindu heritage site was drying out due to water consumption by nearby cement plants.

Bestway Cement and DG Khan Cement proposed that they would submit up to US$17m and US$4m respectively as security deposits until they find alternative water sources. They have also proposed building a small dam in the area, the outflow of which will be maintained in a way that the pond at Katas Raj is not adversely affected. Local cement plants of the two companies are currently using water from nearby river and underground sources.

Pakistan: The Supreme Court has asked cement producers using water near the Katas Raj Temples in Punjab to submit recommendations for a policy on how they should pay for the resource. The court noted that the companies have used water worth ‘billions of rupees’ without any payment, according to the Pakistan Observer newspaper. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar criticised a local government official, “for giving away everything for free.” The court has been investigating media reports that the pond at the Hindu heritage site was drying out due to water consumption by nearby cement plants.

India: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has asked the Committee of Creditors (COC) of Binani Cement to consider UltraTech Cement's revised offer. It has also set 24 June 2018 as the completion deadline of the insolvency resolution process, according to the Press Trust of India. The NCLT also asked the COC to reconsider the resolution plan of Rajputana Properties if the subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Group was willing to raise its offer over UltraTech Cement’s.

A consortium led by Dalmia Bharat won an auction for Binani Cement with a bid of US$974m in early March 2018. UltraTech Cement then made a direct bid to Binani Cement a few weeks later. However, the Supreme Court blocked UltraTech Cement’s offer in mid-April 2018. UltraTech Cement has since made a raised offer to the resolution professional handling the insolvency process of Binani Cement.