Samsung, LADOL’s Settlement To Unlock $300bn Investments, Say Coys’ Chiefs

The management teams of Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN) Limited and LADOL Integrated Logistics Free Zone Enterprise have said the resolution of the dispute between the two companies will unlock $300 billion investments in Nigeria.

In a joint statement they issued after signing the settlement pact in Lagos, the firms reaffirmed the existing shareholding structure in their joint venture, where SHIN owns 70 percent equity and LADOL holds 30 percent.

The resolution of the dispute that had lasted for three years was due to the intervention of the Nigerian and South Korean governments, where the two companies reaffirmed their partnership. In the statement made available to LEADERSHIP in Abuja yesterday, two partners confirmed that they have resolved all the outstanding issues that were the subject of litigations in the Nigerian and international courts. The joint venture between SHIN and LADOL was established when SHIN was awarded the $3.3 billion Egina FPSO project, which required the construction of the fabrication and integration yard to carry out the in-country aspect of the Egina project.

But, the feud between the two par[1]ties, which began in 2018, led to a breakdown of communications and engagements, resulting in court proceedings in Nigeria and the United Kingdom (UK). The companies thanked the Nigerian and South Korean governments for their assistance and interventions.

They said, “This landmark agreement, which demonstrates SHIN’s ongoing commitment to its subsidary, SHI-MCI and Nigeria, and LADOL’s commitment to consolidating and continuing the development of LADOL Free Zone to help ensure that Nigeria becomes an African hub for industrialisation, ensures that SHIN and LADOL can work together as shareholders in SHI-MCI,” the statement explained.

The settlement deal has been approved by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Exports Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), and would also be registered as the judgment in the High Court in London and the courts in Nigeria.

The statement read in part, “The settlement agreement confirms that the Shareholders’ Agreement between SHIN, SHI-MCI, and MCI FZE Yard Development Limited (MCI), dated July 1, 2014 remains valid, and the current shareholding of SHI-MCI is held in the following proportions: SHIN controls 70 percent and MCI, 30 per cent.