Case Overview

Introduction

Welcome to casoavicola.com, a comprehensive resource documenting one of Central America’s most consequential corporate disputes. This website presents the ongoing legal conflict between BDT Investments Inc. (successor to Lisa, S.A.) and various companies and individuals affiliated with the Avícola Villalobos Group, the region’s largest poultry conglomerate.

At the heart of this litigation are serious allegations of dividend withholding, abuse of shareholder rights, and corporate mismanagement spanning more than a decade in both Panama and Guatemala. This platform offers journalists, legal professionals, investors, and the public clear summaries and key documents related to the most important court rulings and legal developments in each jurisdiction.

Panama Litigation

Obstruction of Court Orders and Misuse of Judicial Processes

In Panama, a $200,000 precautionary seizure order was weaponized to withhold over $50 million in dividends owed to Lisa, S.A. by Villamorey, S.A., a Panamanian company established to distribute Avícola Villalobos Group dividends to shareholders.

Despite multiple binding court orders, Villamorey, S.A.—along with its president Juan Luis Bosch Gutiérrez and legal counsel at Galindo, Arias & López (GALA)—has consistently obstructed enforcement. Civil and criminal proceedings have revealed a pattern of judicial noncompliance, embezzlement, and fiduciary misconduct that remains under active investigation.

Guatemala Litigation

Coordinated Legal Campaign to Dispossess a Shareholder

In Guatemala, entities within the Avícola Villalobos Group—controlled by Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI), a major Guatemalan conglomerate and two-thirds shareholder—filed a series of coordinated lawsuits against Lisa, S.A., a one-third shareholder. These actions included baseless damages claims and procedural abuses intended to cut off access to financial records and eliminate Lisa’s dividend rights without compensation.

Between 2011 and 2013, the group sought to exclude Lisa from the company entirely. Over 25 Guatemalan court rulings have confirmed Lisa’s (now BDT’s) shareholder rights and rejected these exclusionary tactics as unlawful.

Origins of the Dispute

This legal dispute began as a business conflict between Lisa, S.A., a Panamanian company owned by Juan Arturo Gutiérrez, and the other shareholders of the Avícola Villalobos Group. Lisa held a one-third ownership interest in the group.

In the 1960s, Arturo co-founded the poultry business with his siblings, Isabel Gutiérrez de Bosch and Dionisio Gutiérrez Sr. In the 1990s, after years abroad, Arturo discovered that the group was using dual accounting to deprive him of dividends. In 1999, Lisa initiated lawsuits in Panama and Guatemala to seek restitution.

Ownership Structure

The chart below illustrates the ownership and control structure at the heart of the dispute. It shows how CMI and BDT Investments Inc. jointly own Villamorey, S.A., a Panamanian entity created to distribute dividends from the Avícola Villalobos Group. Villamorey, in turn, holds 25% of the poultry group, while CMI and BDT each directly own an additional 50% and 25%, respectively.

This structure forms the basis of the conflict: despite BDT’s combined 33.33% ownership in Villamorey and direct 25% stake in the group, it has been systematically denied dividends, information, and shareholder participation.