JAT subsidiary manages some Touchwood Plantations
In another twist to the Touchwood PLC saga, a new company owned by JAT Holdings, a timber coatings solution provider, has been set up to manage lands owned by some Touchwood clients.
An investor told the Business Times that JAT is also a large investor in Touchwood. “To safeguard their investment while also diversifying into plantation management, they decided to form Esteem Plantations,” he said.”
JAT Holdings had a discussion with the Liquidator Sudath Kumar when he met investors and creditors at the meeting held on October 3rd and they offered to ‘manage’ lands as the Liquidator doesn’t have the capacity and the expertise in running the plantations, Lawyer and Co-ordinator of the Sri Lanka Touchwood Stakeholders Association, G.S. Lakshan Dias told the Business Times.
Mr. Dias said that JAT also had a discussion with the Touchwood Depositors’ Association pertaining to securing and maintenance of properties. “This was about a month ago,” he said.
A JAT official told the Business Times that at present they’re managing plantations some Touchwood clients in some locations such as Badulla. “It’s a one year contract. If it’s a clear deed of transfer, then we manage properties with the consent of the client,” he said. Another JAT employee said they also purchase lands from clients. He also added the new company was formed with ex-Touchwood employees.
Mr. Dias said that at the meeting with the liquidator, the depositors were of the position that as they own freehold deeds, they own the lands, but the Liquidator said that Touchwood owns the lands. “We will file a case early next month to establish that the depositors are the real owners of the lands/plantations.” He also said that some depositors have started their own security arrangements to preserve their lands.