BY SAM ALFAN.
Troubled supermarket chain Tuskys and a home appliances and electronic dealer now have 45 days to settle a Sh 248 million dispute out of court.
The parties appearing before Justice Francis Tuiyot were granted the period to settle the matter after they said that they were in the process of striking a deal and would need between one and two months to pay the amount.
However Justice Tuiyott allowed their application and give them 45 days to see whether they can hammer a deal.
This comes after Hotpoint rushed to court seeking to wind up the Tusker Mattresses Limited on grounds that the fallen retail giant was unable to settle the debt.
“The Hotpoint imports the goods sold to the Company. As result, the failure by the Company to pay for the goods promptly, the Petitioner is suffering losses. Therefore, the Petitioner claims interest for the unpaid goods at the rate of 14% per annum from April 28, 2020,” reads the court paper.
Further, petition shows that Hotpoint supplied Tuskys with refrigerators, water dispensers, cookers, coolers, microwaves and TVs.
“Hotpoint has made repeated requests and demands to the company for the payment of the debt, but the company has failed, refused and neglected to pay the debt,”they argue.
The supplier urged the court to appoint Kolluri Venkata Subbaraya Kamasastry as the liquidator and also have the cost of the petition paid out of Tuskys assets when wound up.
Besides Hotpoint, a security company, Syndicate Agencies has also sought to wind-up Tuskys over a debt of Sh30 million.
Documents before the Commercial Division of the High Court showed that Tuskys hired Syndicate Agencies on November 10, 2017, to beef up security and help cut losses from shoplifting and theft by employees.
Other than personnel, the firm installed CCTV feeds in Tuskys’ branches, conducted shop patrols, double-checkers, individuals to inspect staff as they entered and exited work, and system controllers.
“The petitioner’s most thorough search has established that the respondent has no cash in any of its bank accounts or with any financial institutions to meet the above stated indebtedness,” the application reads.
In the circumstances, Syndicate stated in court documents, it is just and equitable that Tuskys- known as Tusker Mattresses ltd, should be wound up.
The court documents further states that the two companies entered into an agreement for provision of loss control services in November 2017, an agreement that was to last up to May 31, 2020.
Part of a clause in the agreement provides for insolvency in case the company fails to pay the debt.
The document shows part of the responsibilities of Syndicate were shop patrols, access control, physical searchers and preparation of daily reports.
