Foreclosure of shares suspended
The foreclosure proceedings announced to sell 32,624 shares of the East African Bottling SC was suspended after the stockholder, Nigussie Hailu, obtained an injunction order subsequent to a deal to pay the money the government wants to recover from the sale within two weeks.
The announcement was made public two weeks ago by Federal Courts Judgment Execution Directorate after the federal high court ordered to foreclose Nigussie’s stake at the EABSC, the bottler of Coca Cola, Sprite and Fanta, among other soda drinks.
Being the only local shareholder with stakes in EABSC since 2017, Nigussie’s share was up for foreclosure at a floor price of 58.2 million Birr with a single share valued at 1,784 Birr prior to the injunction order.
The latest settlement, upon being finalized, marks the end of the court case involving former Prime Minister Tamrat Layne that has been pending for over 25 years.
Previously, Nigussie and his partners, Shadia Nadim and Hussein Abedella, have been convicted of corruption for misappropriating USD16 million borrowed from Mohammed Ali Al-Amoudi (Sheikh), smuggling 1,000 tons of coffee and maneuvering government procurement in a way that damages public interests.
Nigussie was one of the founders of EABSC, which was first under the ownership of the government before he partnered with SABCO and other local shareholders to acquire it in 1995.
Nigussie and his partner, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, are currently the owners of EABSC. The amount of shares owned by both has been growing recently after they agreed to capitalize their dividend and undertake more expansion projects.
According to sources, Nigussie currently owns 222,000 shares at EABSC, significantly higher than the amount of the stake that was up for foreclosure by the Directorate.
EABSC is one of the oldest companies in Ethiopia and it owns facilities in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Bahir Dar. It is currently undertaking expansion projects in different parts of the country, with the construction of its new plant in Sebeta reaching 90 percent completion.
