Chinese cement firm wins injunction against former execs after clashes
HONG KONG, April 13 China Shanshui Cement Group Ltd said on Thursday it had obtained a Hong Kong court injunction against former management after executives were allegedly attacked with pepper spray and smoke bombs in a bitter corporate dispute.
The injunction stops former executives from removing assets worth up to 142 million yuan ($20.61 million) from Hong Kong and posing as directors or officers of the $2.7 billion company, one of the biggest cement makers in China.
The dispute underlines the challenges faced by Hong Kong's stock exchange in improving governance of mainland Chinese companies, which are prone to feuds and statements that would raise eyebrows in most other financial centres.
China Shanshui said on Monday that current executives had been attacked with pepper spray, smoke bombs and water guns and held for two hours by associates of a former official when they had tried to retake control of company property in China.
Shanshui said on Thursday that some of its employees had been detained in China due to alleged criminal conduct, although it was not clear if the charges related to the clashes at the company facility in the city of Jinan.
The company said in a filing on Monday that former deputy general manager Mi Jingtian and his associates had illegally occupied the Jinan facility.
An employee at the facility told Reuters on Monday that there had been a confrontation but that Mi had "acted lawfully".
Company representatives were not available to comment and former executives could not be reached.
The injunction will remain in force until a hearing on April 21.
Shares in Shanshui Cement have been suspended since April 2015 as its public float fell below the 25 percent minimum level required after Tianrui Group raised its stake to become the company's biggest shareholder. A Tianrui representative was not immediately available for comment.
($1 = 6.8890 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Farah Master; Editing by Stephen Coates)