Described as being Castro’s favourite capitalist, much to the disdain of the US Treasury Department, Ian Delaney, chairman of Sherritt International Corporation, the Toronto based mining company, is back in the news. Five years after being accused of “doing a deal with the devil” by Marc Thiessen, an aide of the US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee for daring to invest in Cuba and going against the US government’s anti-Cuban Helms-Burton legislation, Sherritt’s Delaney has now annoyed the Germans. And there’s going to be a face-off in the courtroom.
Deutsche Bank Canada and Sherritt have come to blows over the terms and conditions concerning a C$675 million convertible debenture issued by Sherritt in 1996. Deutsche is claiming that Sherritt is in contravention of statements made in its prospectus under which the debentures were issued and distributed.
Refuting the claim, Sherritt believes that the contractual obligations relating to the issue are held in the Trust Indenture, and Deutsche should have read it more carefully.
With Sherritt filing a rejection of Deutsche’s claims with the courts on July 19, the action will soon be coming to a head.
The dispute erupted following Sherritt’s shareholder meeting in May at which the company announced a new quarterly dividend policy.