$10m debt: Judge declines to hear Shoprite’s application

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday declined to hear an application seeking to revoke a Mareva Injunction barring Shoprite Checkers (PTY) Limited from transferring its assets.

Vacation judge Justice Nicholas Oweibo ruled that the matter was not urgent enough to be heard during the court’s ongoing vacation.

The South African retail company is seeking to overturn the July 14, 2020 order made by Justice Mohammed Liman of the same court in favour of a Nigerian firm, A.I.C. Limited.

A.I.C. had in 2018 secured a $10m judgment from an Ikeja High Court in Lagos against Shoprite for alleged breach of contract.

It then obtained the Mareva injunction following Shoprite’s announcement to pull out of Nigeria.

The Mareva injunction restrained Shoprite “from transferring, assigning, charging, disposing of its trademark, franchise and intellectual property in a manner that will alter, dissipate or remove these non-cash assets and other assets, including but not limited to trade receivables, trade payables, payment for purchase of merchandise, from within the jurisdiction of this honourable court.”

It further mandated the second respondent, Retail Supermarket Nigeria Limited, “to disclose its audited financial statements for the years ending 2018 and 2019 to enable the judgment creditor/applicant determine the judgment debtor’s/respondent’s funds in its custody in order to preserve same in satisfaction of the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Appeal No: CA/L/288/2018.”