The Board of Directors of Directors of the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation Limited (Plipdeco), has taken a decision to send Ashley Taylor, the president of the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Corporation Limited (Plipdeco), on administrative leave in July, just three months before his retirement in November. Taylor was sent on leave on July 29.
Plipdeco is a publicly traded entity with the State, through corporation sole, owning 51 per cent of the company. Plipdeco’s annual report, states the other nine shareholders with the largest block of shares are Masa Investments Limited (7.6 per cent), Chan Ramlal Limited (6.67 per cent), and Tatil Life Assurance Limited (2.84 per cent). Bourse Nominee Account Co (2.53 per cent), Atlantic Investments Company Limited (2.52 per cent), Republic Bank Limited (2.48 per cent), Riyad Khan (1.49 per cent), Olympic Manufacturing Limited (1.26 per cent), and George Aboud and Sons Limited (1.22 per cent).
An internal investigation has since been launched into contracts negotiated during Taylor’s 16-year tenure at Plipdeco. The board’s decision stemmed from the terms of the lease agreement with TT Iron Steel Company Limited (TT Iron). TT Iron acquired the defunct Arcelor Mittal steel plant (which has been in liquidation since 2016 by Christopher Kelshall) in Point Lisas in July and Plipdeco as its landlord.
TT Iron, chaired by Joel Pemberton, agreed to pay US$30 million for the plant, with a downpayment of US$3 million with the remaining US$27 million to be paid by December 31, 2024. Mittal however incurred close to $44 million in rent outstanding to Plipdeco at the time of closure, and TT Iron’s acquisition of the plant would see it responsible for that debt.
Taylor as president is said to have negotiated the terms, in which TT Iron would operate for the first three years rent-free. However, when the board raised issues with those terms, it was renegotiated to six months rent-free. As part of the initial payment from the liquidator to Plipdeco, the terms were that $22 million was paid upfront, with the remainder of $22 million to be paid in January 2025.
Section 64 of the Securities Act 2012, requires reporting issuers to file notices of material change with the TTSEC within three days of the occurrence and publish material change notices in two daily newspapers within seven days of the occurrence.
No notice of Taylor’s administrative leave has yet been filed with the T&T Securities and Exchange Commission (TTSEC)