Delma Lupepe, the major shareholder of struggling Bulawayo-based textile firm Merlin, has accused the judicial manager of “lying” to the nation that the company was struggling to attract investors.
BY MTHANDAZO NYONI
Lupepe accused judicial manager, Cecil Madondo of Tudor House of insinuating that Merlin was failing to attract investors.
Lupepe said as shareholders, they had managed to secure a Japanese investor (Marubeni Tekmatex Corporation), who had agreed to pour in more than $30 million into the business, but Madondo was dragging his feet.
“This man is lying. There is a clear investor who is prepared to put in millions into the business but we have the judicial manager who has been there for many years and failed to do anything tangible,” he said.
Recently, Madondo told NewsDay that Merlin was still struggling to raise about $1,2 million required capital even though he had made frantic efforts. As such, he said they had engaged financial institutions with the view of helping them secure investors for Merlin.
He also revealed that in January, the shareholders wrote an article in a newspaper suggesting that they had secured a Japanese Investor for Merlin, but “we have not seen the investors to date and we concluded that the deal was not successful”.
But Lupepe said Madondo was the only stumbling block towards the revival of the company. He said the investor could not put the money while the company was still under judicial management. Lupepe also said since Merlin was placed under judicial management in 2010, they had never had a meeting with Madondo.
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“We have never received any report from him on the status of the company. I have been calling him to no avail. He is sitting in Harare and our assets are at risk. I am the one who is losing much personally. I am not failing to operate the company, but I am denied the chance to do so,” he said.
Contacted for comment, Madondo furnished NewsDay with a copy of the letter he sent to Lupepe’s lawyers concerning the coming in of Japanese investors.
In the letter Madondo stated that he was not objecting the coming in of Japanese investors saying “investors are welcome at Merlin Limited and we are willing to co-operate in any way possible to revive the company for the benefit of all shareholders”.
He refuted claims that Lupepe’s property was vulnerable to vandalism due to lack of security.
Lupepe said the judicial management system in Zimbabwe was unfair as some of the judicial managers were given more companies to manage by the court and were failing to deliver as a result of a high load factor.
He said they had successfully applied for removal of the company from judicial management in December last year, but Madondo appealed at the High Court challenging the court ruling.
The case is still pending in the courts and last week it was postponed to next year.
