Stallion Motors has refuted the claim that it is indebted to financial institutions and Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to the tune of N330billion.
This is as the company also denied the closure of its assets and property by the court following the alleged debts.
A statement by Mr. Anant Badjatya, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Stallion Motors, said the allegation was “completely baseless and false.”
Badjatya explained that a few of its rented and leased properties were affected because of the court’s ex parte order, which was done without any notice, stressing that they were not its property.
He, however, said the company would not comment further on this as the issue was subjudice, stressing that Stallion’s legal team had taken it up with the judiciary.
He added: “The company has banking lines with local banks for regular business operations like all other major conglomerates in Nigeria and clarifies that it does not owe N330bn to the banks as alleged.
“On the contrary, the organisation enjoys a very good customer loyalty across businesses and has a sound financial position with more than N750bn in assets with approximately N150bn in liabilities, most of which is a receivable from Federal Government, which translates into a very healthy debt to equity ratio.
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“It is poised for further expansion with investments across business divisions; agriculture, aqua culture, auto, flexible packaging, logistics and business solutions.”
The company stated that the entire incident started when a few of the Stallion showrooms in Victoria Island were sealed off on Tuesday December 10, as a result of ex-parte order.
He insisted that no other properties had been affected anywhere else in the country, stressing that some locations, which were sealed off in Victoria Island were now open and working.
He explained that the company employs 4,000 people directly and indirectly, stressing that it was one of the foremost conglomerates hugely invested in the country.
He declared that the company boasts of the largest installed rice milling capacity, working directly with more than 40,000 farmers across Nigeria, largest and best equipped auto manufacturing and assembly plant in West Africa; feeding its state-of-the-art nationwide dealer network for nine global auto brands facilitating vehicle sales, leasing and after-sales.
He said the company, in the auto sector, had showed the conviction in the potential of Nigeria when it took over the moribund facility formerly used by Volkswagen of Nigeria (VON) and its German partners on the Badagry-Seme Expressway in Ojo, Lagos.
The Stallion boss said the company had invested more than N130bn in auto sector from manufacturing to sales to service and after-sales.