By Joseph Jibueze and Robert Egbe
Ecobank Nigeria Limited has asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to restrain Honeywell Group Limited from dissipating its assets pending the hearing and determination of winding-up proceedings in the suit.
It said the assets included but were not limited to Honeywell Group’s shareholding in Honeywell Flour Mills Plc.
The bank prayed the court to restrain the transfer of all shares held/belonging to Honeywell Group in any corporate body, particularly its entire holdings in Honeywell Flour Mills pending the determination of the winding-up action.
The bank made the prayers and four others in a suit marked FHC/L/CP/1571/2015 between it as petitioner/applicant and Honeywell Group as the first respondent in the matter of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc – the party (second respondent) sought to be restrained.
The bank said despite the pendency of the winding-up action, “the entire business community was awash with the news of the proposed sale of 71.69 per cent of the first respondent’s stake/shareholding in Honeywell Flour Mills PLC to Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC for over N80 billion”.
It prayed for an order restraining Flour Mills from purchasing/benefitting from the disposition of any shares held/belonging to/owned by Honeywell Group, particularly the first respondent’s entire shareholding in Honeywell Flour Mills.
Another prayer seeks to void the sale of any assets of Honeywell Group consummated after the commencement of the winding-up action on October 16, 2015, “particularly the ‘alleged’ sale of the 71.69 per cent shareholding of the first respondent in Honeywell Flour Mills to Flour Mills of Nigeria or any other legal/natural person”.
The bank further sought to restrain all regulatory corporations “from sanctioning the ‘alleged’ sale of the shares belonging to the 1st Respondent in Honeywell Flour Mills or any other corporate body.”
It prayed for an order directing the regulatory corporations including the Federal Competition and Consumers Protection Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigerian Exchange Limited to immediately reverse all “alleged” sales of the shares belonging to the first respondent in Honeywell Flour Mills Plc or any other corporate body.
The bank averred in its December 8 motion on notice that it commenced its action via a petition to wind up Honeywell Group due to its alleged inability to liquidate its indebtedness to the petitioner.
It averred that the petition was filed on October 16, 2015, along with a Motion on Notice seeking interlocutory injunctions restraining the first respondent/its Chairman (Dr. Oba Otudeko) from dissipating the assets of the company.
