Court to hear winding-up suit against Guinness March 28

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•‘We’re not indebted’

Justice Hadizat Rabiu-Shagari of the Federal High Court in Lagos will on March 28 hear a winding-up petition by a company, Pharma-Deko Plc, against Guinness Nigeria Plc over an alleged N175,699,317.99 debt.

Pharma-Deko Plc is praying the court to wind-up Guinness Nigeria over its inability to pay the alleged debt, and to appoint a receiver for the drink company.

The petitioner, in an affidavit deposed to by its production manager, Olukayode Isola, said it had a canning contract with Guinness Nigeria, which was allegedly breached.

It said parties went to arbitration, at the end of which an award of the sum was made last July 1.

Pharma-Deko said efforts to get the debt paid failed despite several demand notices to Guinness Nigeria.

But, Guinness Nigeria has urged the court to strike out the suit in its entirety for want of jurisdiction.

In a statement, the company said: “Guinness Nigeria denies that it is indebted to Pharma Deko Plc in the stated amount or any amount at all and its solicitors have filed a robust defence to Pharma Deko’s claims in court.

“The amount claimed by Pharma Deko Plc in the court process is an insignificant amount when compared with the revenue, cashflow and balance sheet of the company and management is very confident of being able to repudiate the claims in court.

“The management of Guinness Nigeria wishes to assure its employees, customers, shareholders and other stakeholders that it is capable of meeting its financial and other obligations to its various stakeholders and that it continues to operate as a going concern.”

 

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