The postponement follows a government order on Sept. 18 which put under state administration some of the company’s units, including Tanganda Tea Co., the country’s largest tea producer. Lawyers representing the Meikles family and John Moxon, the company’s biggest shareholders, have described the move as “null and void.”
Kingdom Meikles was scheduled to meet today to discuss the separation of Kingdom, a banking company, from Meikles Africa, which owns retail shops and hotels, as well as tea and cotton companies.
Armed riot police prevented the EGM from taking place, dispersing company executives who had arrived for the meeting, the Associated Press reported. Calls to the head offices of both Kingdom and Meikles weren’t answered when Bloomberg News called seeking comment.
The company was formed in January last year by combining Kingdom Financial Holdings Ltd. and Meikles Africa Ltd. The company said on June 26 that it would de-merge after disagreements between John Moxon, who had been the biggest shareholder in Meikles Africa, and Kingdom Meikles’ former Chief Executive Officer, Nigel Chanakira. It didn’t give further details.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Latham in Durban at blatham@bloomberg.net
