Press Corporation rejects PTC senior management’s request to terminate Tafika Holdings’ deal

Press Corporation has rejected senior management’s request that it should terminate the share purchase agreement it has with Tafika Holdings, saying the provisions of the deal “are subject to a legally binding agreement”.

Press Corporation also snubs the senior management, saying they are not a party to the legally binding agreement and as such the Corporation will not grant any such request or to any other person who is not party to the agreement.

“Besides, our careful reading of your letter informs us that most of the issues raised and are internal to PTC organization — hence it is our considered view that the same can best be handled by the management and owners of PTC,” says the letter from PCL’s acting chief executive officer, Lyton Chithambo.

Dated June 7, the letter has been copied to executive chairman of Tafika Holdings, Arson Malola; chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Press Trust and chairperson of the PCL Board of directors.

Meanwhile, PTC’s Board of directors has since suspended all 8 signatories to the letter, which had cited that Tafika Holdings “grossly violated terms of the sale agreement”.

Inside impeccable sources confirmed that the senior staff received their letters of suspension on Thursday, June 2 — saying the suspension was for 30 days pending investigations.

Our source also indicated that Tafika Holdings has not yet paid the K6 billion which it was supposed to honour as an equity investor but travel and other expenses of the owner, Arson Malola — a Malawian based in South Africa — are being funded by PTC.

The source also said PTC created a new position (head of legal) and brought in Arson Malola’s niece Sheilla Malola — daughter to Arson’s brother Lloyd Malola — without any interviews.

After the 8 authored the letter, Malola took to social media maintaining that the share purchase agreement it has with Press Corporation Plc to buy People’s was set to be concluded but in their letter, senior PTC management said the violation of the sale agreement impacted on PTC as a company, its employees, its suppliers and Malawi as an economy.

Other sources indicate that People’s is failing to do business with other suppliers on credit line because apparently Tafika owes them money from other business transactions — one of them being Castel, whose case is still in court.

In the letter, the senior management maintained that they were making the request to Press Corporation “with a heavy heart as we believe we are accountable for the 615 employees of PTC and more than 400 suppliers of various goods and services”.

Other sources revealed that it seems Press Corporation has abandoned the whole process despite recapitalizing the business, which was agreed on that Tafika would eject K6 billion with PCL pumping in K12.5 billion.