Finsbury Investments identifies itself as a wholly-owned Investment company in Zambia. It is owned and managed by prominent businessman Dr. Rajan Mahtani, holding the position of Executive Chairman. Finsbury Investments took over majority shareholding and legal ownership of the Portland Cement Zambia limited through several restructuring processes. Based on an original shareholding agreement, the final shareholding pattern included 58 percent shares to Dr. Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments and 42 percent shares to Ventriglia-owned Ital Terrazzo Limited. Even though this share restructuring was accepted at first, the Ventriglia family decided to play another game. After Finsbury Investments secured the required loan from PTA as well as funds from several financial organizations, the authenticity of the shareholding agreement was questioned. This resulted in a case at the Lusaka High Court. Despite having all evidences and testimonials, the case not only dragged for more than a decade but also resulted in a controversial verdict.
Dr. Mahtani then approached the higher Court of Appeal with the objective of receiving justice. This time, his plea was heard and justice Mwinde announced Dr. Mahtani owned Finsbury Investments as the majority shareholder and legal owner of the Portland Cement Zambia factory. It seems like the Ventriglia family was extremely unhappy with this decision and proceeded towards launching another appeal, this time at the Supreme Court Zambia. It can be said that the attempt by the Ventriglia family to reach Supreme Court was their last resort. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court established a bench of three SC judges for evaluating the claim and found it to be misleading. It was found that the Ventriglia family was required to submit its claim within 14 days of the Court of Appeal’s judgement. However, the appeal was made after more than 1.5 years of the Court of Appeal. After proper evaluation, the Supreme Court Zambia came to the conclusion that the claim holds no ground and should be rejected.