Fragrance brothers tussle over shares
A family fight involving three brothers who founded and operate Hong Kong-listed China Flavors and Fragrances became a legal tussle yesterday.
In a writ filed with the High Court, Wong Ming-bun, the company's chairman, is calling into question an agreement with, and a resolution passed by his two brothers and other shareholders earlier this year.
It was resolved that new shares would be issued to Wang Mingfan, Wang Mingyou, Qian Wu and another shareholder, reducing Wong's shareholding by 3 per cent to 28.1 per cent, according to the court document.
The legal move came after Wang Mingfan, who is chief executive, and other directors approved the removal of Wong and Wang Mingyou as directors last Wednesday.
Wong is suing his two brothers who go by the family name of Wang and Qian, who is an executive director and shareholder of China Flavors and Fragrances, and Creative China, the controlling shareholder of China Flavors and Fragrances.
Meanwhile, Wang Mingfan, on behalf of China Flavors and Fragrances, announced in a filing yesterday with the Hong Kong stock exchange that it was "in the best interest" of the company to oust his two brothers from the board.
In question is a 2012 agreement under which Wang Mingfan, Wang Mingyou and Qian Wu were respectively granted 764, 69 and 234 shares for their contribution of funds under the same loan agreement.
Wong also stated that he has no knowledge about a company announcement about the change in shareholdings on March, although it was issued under his name.
Wong is asking the court to order the defendants to restore the shareholdings of the company back to the position before the new share allocation.
