Photo by: Reuters
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – A Mexican district court and a court of appeals have both rejected attempts by billionaire Germán Larrea Mota Velasco, CEO of Grupo Mexico, to compel subsidiary Americas Mining Corporation (AMC), to answer as co-defendant in a long-standing personal breach-of-contract lawsuit brought by UK investment firm Infund.
Infund’s suit alleges that Larrea (60) breached a “commercial commission contract” when he refused to deliver 65-million Series B, Coupon 5 shares of Grupo Mexico securities for which Infund paid $75-million.
However, Grupo Mexico securities filings from 2006 onward confirmed that Larrea retained the disputed shares in his own accounts, which were now valued at more than $2-billion, representing 7% of the company’s outstanding equity and more than the Larrea family’s 51% controlling stake in the firm. Larrea personally owns 18% of Grupo Mexico.
Larrea had previously attempted to implicate Grupo Mexico in his answer to Infund’s breach of contract claim, but the courts also denied that attempt.
Larrea is the controlling shareholder of Grupo Mexico and number 67 on the ‘Forbes 2014 World’s Billionaires’ list.
“We are pleased that once again, the Mexican courts agree that this lawsuit is between only two parties: Infund, on one hand, and Germán Larrea, on the other,” Infund spokesperson José Antonio Marván Lizardi said on Wednesday.
“It’s understandable why Larrea would make claims that this lawsuit involves others or has already been heard. But a simple review of court records confirms that Infund’s breach of contract claim against Larrea has never been heard in any jurisdiction anywhere,” Marvan continued, referring to a previous lawsuit relating to the securities but not involving Infund that was dismissed without prejudice owing to standing concerns.
Global conglomerate Grupo Mexico operates railroads and mines throughout the US and Latin America through subsidiaries including AMC, Asarco and Southern Copper.
Earlier this year, as part of a Grupo Mexico initiative to publicly register its operating subsidiaries, Tucson, Arizona-based AMC filed a registration statement in London with the hopes of an initial public offering (IPO). That IPO had since been called off.