Order: Denies Administradora’s motion against BDT’s admission

On April 26, 2024, the Fifteenth Civil Court of First Instance in Guatemala rejected a motion filed by Administradora de Restaurantes, S.A. seeking to expand a prior order that admitted BDT Investments Inc. as a co-party in the case. The motion argued that BDT’s documentation, originating in Panama, lacked legal effect in Guatemala and that its participation aimed to substitute the defendant rather than act as a co-party.

The court ruled that these objections concerned substantive matters and not procedural ambiguities, thus falling outside the scope of an expansion request under Articles 596 and 597 of the Civil Procedure Code. As a result, the court upheld its April 2 order admitting BDT Investments Inc. as co-party and declared the motion for expansion inadmissible.