Georgiou can appeal to SCA
CONTRACT: HIGHVELD SYNDICATION BUYBACK AT ISSUE
Collective investor claims could exceed R2 billion.
the collective claims could exceed R2 billion. The appeal will probably be heard only next year.
Interest non-payment:
Earlier this year, Zephan and Orthotouch, both owned by Georgiou, suspended interest payments to investors who supported any of Bolt and the Highveld Syndication Action Group’s (HSAG’s) legal challenges.
They deemed it unfair to investors who supported the Scheme of Arrangement that those who backed the legal challenges continued to benefit from it. Investors were sent a form to complete to indicate whether they supported these legal challenges. Interest payments to supporters and investors who haven’t completed the form were suspended in August.
This seems to contravene the Section 155 Scheme of Arrangement as it doesn’t allow for any discretion in interest payment.
Georgiou recently sent another letter to investors, saying: “If the small minority continues to fight me, they may be responsible for causing the financial failure of the agreed scheme and that will have a negative impact on the majority of investors with potential further legal implications.
“If we do not have the full support of all the investors, this could ultimately result in the setting aside of the scheme of arrangement and the business rescue practitioner having no option but to liquidate the Highveld Syndication 15-22 companies.”
Resignations:
HS business rescue practitioner Hans Klopper, and Sharemax rescue vehicle Nova’s chairperson Connie Myburgh, resigned from the Orthotouch board on October 30. Klopper was appointed to the board on January 9 2012. His attorney, Natalie Lubbe, said he resigned for personal reasons. Myburgh didn’t respond to questions querying his resignation.
Companies and Intellectual Property Commission issues:
A WinDeed company report showed Orthotouch was in arrears with submitting annual returns to the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, as prescribed by the Companies Act. The commission’s website said failure to submit returns led to the assumption the company wasn’t doing business or wasn’t intending to in the near future and that “non-compliance may lead to deregistration”.