MOBILE PHONE COMPANY IN TANGO WITH SHAREHOLDER

THE Commercial Division of the Accra Fast Track High Court has awarded costs of ¢8 million against Scancom Limited, operators of Areeba mobile phone network, in the case in which a Ghanaian businessman is claiming 20 per cent interest in the company.
The award followed Scancom’s delay in filing an application for an extension of time to enable it to file its defence in an application for judgement in default filed by the plaintiff.
The plaintiff, Mr Richmond Aggrey, sued Investcom Holdings LLC, the majority shareholder in Scancom Limited, Scancom Limited and Grandview Management Limited when Scancom decided to engage in a merger deal with South African giants, MTN Incorporated.
The deal has, however, been concluded with the transfer of all shares in Scancom to the South African company.
That was after a High Court order on July 14, last year restraining Investcom LLC and Grandview Management from “continuing, progressing and or concluding the merger with and or acquisition of Investcom LLC by MTN without taking into account and or providing for the plaintiff’s/applicant’s 20 per cent shares in Scancom Limited”.
The closure of the acquisition, according to Mr Aggrey, would occasion the loss of his shareholding in the company by reason of the accrual of the rights of the MTN Group as a third party.
His contention was that his name had been removed from the shareholders’ list of Scancom Limited without any explanation.
Furthermore, the plaintiff is claiming against the defendants, jointly and severally, an order directed to Scancom Limited to pay him his true dividends declared from the 2000 to 2005 financial years and also include his name in the shareholders’ list.
The substantive case has not been heard because of the resort to technicalities, especially by Areeba.
At the court’s sitting yesterday, Mr Yoni Kulendi, counsel for the plaintiff, said he had an application for judgement in default of defence, as well as another motion for interlocutory injunction by counsel for Grandview Management to stop an arbitration process.
Mr Kulendi wanted to move his motion but counsel for Scancom Limited, Mr Benson Nutsupui, objected and stated that his client had also filed a motion for the extension of time within which to file its defence, although none of the parties had been served, except the court.
That prompted counsel for Investcom LLC, Mr Felix Ntirakwa, to say that he had not received Scancom’s motion and that he had also filed an application to stay proceedings pending an arbitration, which Mr Kulendi was unaware of.
Counsel for Grandview Management, Mr Thaddeus Sory, said he had also filed an application for interlocutory injunction seeking to restrain the parties from going ahead with any arbitration.
Mr Nutsupui replied that Grandview was not a party to the arbitration and, therefore, it was not right for counsel to have filed the application.
The judge cautioned the parties that he was not pleased with the way and manner in which they filed documents in the case and adjourned the matter to April 30 for Mr Kulendi to move his motion for judgement in default.
In a related development, the court adjourned a contempt suit against Scancom and others to May 3, 2007.