Barely redone from her husband’s death, this is the second devastating blow that, in just over a month, the Angolan businesswoman suffers, after that court ordered the temporary withdrawal of her voting rights in the largest mobile phone company in Angola.
“If it was already weakened as a result of the arrest imposed by the Provincial Court of Luanda, without being able to count on the support of General Dino, who was also weakened before the Angolan Justice, now we are witnessing the beginning of the end of his empire”, an old predicted to Expresso consultant of the businesswoman, who asked for anonymity.
Isabel dos Santos’ temporary removal from UNITEL’s management now follows a new judicial onslaught by PT Ventures, formerly holding 25% of UNITEL, which, later indirectly held by the Brazilian company Oi, for several years was prevented from receive dividends as determined by the management led by Isabel dos Santos.
With this action, from now on, Vidatel, Isabel dos Santos’ company, will be represented at the general meetings of UNITEL by Matt Richardson and Nicholas Wood, both judicial administrators appointed by the arbitral tribunal.
Prior to this action, in February 2019, Oi had filed another lawsuit with the Arbitral Tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce, and Vidatel was ordered to indemnify PT by US $ 654.2 million, plus interest for the loss of value of its participation resulting from the “violation of shareholders’ agreements and transactions for their own benefit”.
By buying, in January this year, for 900 million euros, the 25% stake in Oi, Sonangol now holds 50% of UNITEL, but the management crisis continued due to the shareholder war that placed, on one side , Vidatel and Geni of General Leopoldino Nascimento and, on the other, Mercury of Sonangol.
The wear and tear on Isabel dos Santos’s image was further accentuated a month ago, after UNITEL filed a lawsuit in London demanding the repayment of seven loans that served to support financial operations and investments in Portugal, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Prince. “He used the name of UNITEL to make several loans, one of which in the amount of 464 million dollars later transferred to a company of his – Tokeyana Management Limited, BVI – which will certainly be revisited and possibly reverted to the defense of the interests of the UNITEL ”, denounced a Sonangol source.
Isabel dos Santos rejects having received these transfers and puts herself in the condition of creditor of the operator, but the operator perpetually denies having contracted any debt to Vidatel.
Now, everything can change. The British Virgin Islands Arbitral Tribunal in its action was not limited to suspending the participation of Isabel dos Santos in the decisions of UNITEL. Going further, it determined the freezing of all dividends from Vidatel and placed all of its bank accounts under the management of those two judicial administrators.
Express
