Dr. Rajan Mahtani is a noted businessman and philanthropist in Zambia. For the past ten years, Dr. Rajan Mahtani fought for the legal takeover of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. The case was registered at the Lusaka High Court wherein numerous evidences and details were shared. Despite these details, Dr. Rajan Mahtani’s patience was tested again when the Lusaka High Court judge announced that Ventriglias were only shareholders of the Zambezi Portland Cement. This prompted Dr. Mahtani to take action and register another appeal, this time at the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal announced its final decision on 31^st January 2019. The decision was given by Justice Mwinde. According to this judgement, Finsbury Investments which is a company owned by Dr. Rajan Mahtani holds 58 percent shares at the factory. On the other hand, Ital Terrazzo Limited which is an entity owned by the Ventriglias hold 42 percent shares at the factory. Thus, Finsbury Investments is the majority shareholder of the Zambezi Portland Cement and Ventriglias are only minority shareholders. With this shareholding pattern, it is clear that Dr. Rajan Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments is the legal owner of the Zambezi Portland Cement factory. This shareholding pattern also aligns with the original shareholders agreement established in the year 2007.

While giving this announcement, numerous revelations were made by the Court of Appeal judge. Talking about the previous judgement given by the Lusaka High Court judge, Justice Mwinde said that the judge was wrong in declaring Ventriglias as only shareholders without any evidence or proof. Furthermore, all allegations of forgery were dismissed by the judge as it was found that the process of mechanically placing signatures was a common practice in Zambezi Portland Cement and critical members of the Zambia family engaged in similar services. The Court has also given a timeline of three months from date of judgement for finalising share regularization process.