SHC orders Unity Foods Board reconstitution

The Sindh High Court has ordered Unity Foods to fill vacant board seats in a way that gives Wilmar Pakistan Holdings and/or its group a majority. The consent order, dated October 30, follows directions from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and leaves legally required independent directors outside that arrangement.

Unity Foods had been operating with two directors, below the statutory minimum of seven, after directors and senior officers resigned. The order does not decide whether a provisional manager should be appointed: applications by Wilmar and Dubai Islamic Bank remain pending, with arguments set for November 18. The dispute also includes Wilmar’s claim of an approximately Rs3 billion receivables discrepancy and a separate FIR concerning an alleged Rs44.7 billion gap between published accounts and internal records; the company says the allegations remain unproven.