Lonrho: Cambria Africa sues for R100m in UK

Cambria Africa, a closed-ended fund listed in London and focused on Zimbabwe, is suing its former manager, Lonrho, for R100 million in the high court in London. Cambria settled a dispute with Lonrho over “alleged fraudulent misrepresentations” last year for R27m. The fund is seeking to rescind that agreement and pursue additional claims regarding three aircraft previously owned by Cambria, but leased to former subsidiaries of Lonrho. “These claims include fraudulent misrepresentations by Lonrho to Cambria relating to the purchase of one of the aircraft by Cambria from Lonrho, breaches of contract, negligence and breaches of fiduciary duty resulting in unpaid maintenance reserve and lease charges,” Cambria said in court documents. It also claims that Lonrho diverted insurance claims proceeds due to Cambria and that the aircraft had devalued by the time they were repossessed by Cambria, and were found to be missing engines, avionics and propellers. Lonrho, the conglomerate built by the late “Tiny” Rowland and formerly known as the London and Rhodesia Mining and Land Company, was a major shareholder in Cambria Africa and managed the fund until February 2012. Shortly before Rowland died in 1998, Lonrho spun off its mining assets to Lonmin. Lonrho is now controlled by UBS director Rainer-Marc Frey and former Holcim chairman Thomas Schmidheiny. – Independent Foreign Service