[ad_1]
(Trinidad Guardian) Ashley Taylor, president of Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Company Limited (Plipdeco), was ordered to take leave by the company’s board of directors in July and will retire in November three months later.
However, pursuant to Section 64 of the Securities Act 2012, Plipdeco is required to file a notice of Taylor’s administrative leave with the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission (TTSEC).
The Act requires reporting issuers to submit a material change notice to TTSEC within three days of the event and to publish the material change notice in two daily newspapers within seven days of the event.
Plipdeco has since launched an internal investigation into contracts signed during his 16-year tenure.
The Sunday Guardian understands that the board’s decision stems from the terms of the lease agreement with TT Iron Steel Company Limited (TT Iron), which acquired the defunct Arcelor Mittal steelworks at Point Lisas in July (which had been in liquidation by Christopher Kelshall since 2016) and made Plipdeco its landlord.
TT Iron, chaired by Joel Pemberton, agreed to pay $30 million for the plant, with $3 million being a down payment and the remaining $27 million to be paid by Dec. 31, 2024.
However, Mittal owed Plipdeco nearly $44 million in rent at the time of closure, and TT Iron’s acquisition of the plant would make it responsible for that debt.
Initially, Taylor negotiated terms that TT Iron would operate rent-free for the first three years, The Sunday Guardian reported. However, when the board objected to those terms, the parties renegotiated to six months rent-free. As part of the liquidator’s first payment to Plipdeco, the terms were $22 million upfront, with the remaining $22 million to be paid in January 2025.
The Sunday Guardian understands that the TT Iron lease agreement was reached when Plipdeco brought the Office of Procurement Regulation’s (OPR) Procurement and Disposal Advisory Committee (PDAC) into its management in June.
Plipdeco is majority-owned by the government. Plipdeco therefore sought legal advice on the matter as Plipdeco subleases the state-owned land it leases and directly leases freehold land to companies in the park.
Pemberton said that while the agreement had taken longer than expected, it was negotiated on TT Iron’s behalf by external counsel at law firms Dentons and Plipdeco.
The board’s decision led to the company issuing a notice on July 9 that the company’s annual general meeting, originally scheduled for two days later on July 11, would be postponed to September.
The specific date has not yet been announced.
Taylor was suspended on July 29. He did not respond to requests for comment from the Sunday Guardian.
One employee told the Sunday Guardian: “It’s like a witch hunt.”
Dr. Averne Pantin, vice president of technical services, is now acting president of the company.
The Sunday Guardian has learned that Pantin has begun to restructure the organisation. Neither Plipdeco chairman Dr Daniel Dookie nor the acting chief executive responded to requests for comment.
Plipdeco is a state-owned public company, with a single legal entity holding 51% of the company’s shares.
According to its annual report, the other nine shareholders holding the largest shares are Masa Investments Limited (7.6%), Chan Ramlal Limited (6.67%), Tatil Life Assurance Limited (2.84%), Bourse Nominee Account Co (2.53%), Atlantic Investments Company Limited (2.52%), Republic Bank Limited (2.48%), Riyad Khan (1.49%), Olympic Manufacturing Limited (1.26%) and George Aboud and Sons Limited (1.22%).
Plipdeco said in its financial statements for the year ended June 30 that it intends to use its strong performance to date as a platform to advance its strategic plans and operational activities as it moves into 2024.
“We are also delighted to welcome TT Iron Steel Company Limited as a new tenant in the industrial estate. As a tenant, TT Iron Steel Company Limited will leverage on the company’s convenient location in the industrial estate and port facilities to enhance its production capacity. This move is in line with our commitment to promote industrial growth and provide an enabling environment for businesses to prosper. I express my sincerest gratitude and appreciation for all the efforts put in so far and am eager to continue our collaborative efforts that will create and enhance synergies that will benefit the company,” said Dookie in his chairman’s speech.
[ad_2]
Source link
