Order: Court dismissed dividend case by Las Margaritas

On June 11, 2024, the Fifth Civil Court of First Instance of Guatemala rejected a lawsuit filed by Avícola Las Margaritas, S.A., which sought to extinguish Lisa, S.A.’s rights to collect dividends based on alleged prescription. The court ruled that Avícola failed to prove when the dividends became legally payable, a prerequisite to calculate the five-year prescription period under Guatemalan law. It also found that Avícola itself admitted the timing of the dividend payment was subject to decisions by its own board.

The court upheld all five peremptory exceptions filed by Lisa, S.A., including lack of veracity in Avícola’s claims, lack of legal conditions for prescription, lack of free disposal over the funds, interference with third-party rights due to embargoes, and the existence of prior judicial and extrajudicial actions that interrupted any possible prescription. The court concluded that Lisa never had free access to the dividends due to judicial embargoes initiated by the Avícola Villalobos Group itself, and thus the legal deadline to collect them never began.