Claims Over Dividend Prescription by Avícola Las Margaritas

Avícola Las Margaritas, S.A. sought a declaration of extinctive prescription. Lisa, S.A. raised the preliminary exception of failure of condition, arguing that multiple embargoes, many promoted by Avícola companies themselves, had frozen Lisa’s dividend rights, making payment legally impossible.

The court upheld the exception of failure of condition. It found that Lisa’s dividends were subject to embargoes ordered by several civil courts at the request of Avícola entities, and that these embargoes remained in force. Because payment was suspended by these embargoes, prescription could not run. The extinctive-prescription claim was therefore rejected, and Avícola Las Margaritas, S.A. was ordered to pay costs.

The extinctive-prescription action failed in first instance; Lisa, S.A. preserved its dividend rights.

The court heard testimony from Avícola Las Margaritas, S.A. as the successor entity responsible for Compañía Alimenticia de Centroamérica, S.A. The interrogation focused on dividend rights and embargoes affecting Lisa, S.A.

The representative acknowledged that shareholders, including Lisa, S.A., had immediate rights to dividends, but confirmed that embargoes had been imposed and recorded in the shareholder registry. He admitted that more than five years had elapsed between a demand letter and the lawsuit, but recognized that embargoes had prevented payment.

The testimony reinforced Lisa, S.A.’s position: embargoes promoted by Avícola itself prevented dividend payments, blocking prescription from taking effect.