Court Clears Leopard Capital in Loan Case

The Court of Appeal yesterday dismissed a complaint by the Canadian-Cambodian shrimp manufacturer Nautisco Seafood Manufacturing Inc. alleging that the private equity firm Leopard Capital had purposely indebted the company for its own personal gain. According to the Sihanoukville-based shrimp company’s complaint, Leopard Capital, a partner in the company, paid off a $1.74 million loan that Nautisco owed to a bank. But, according to the complaint, Leopard then added its own interest to the initial loan amount payment, which Nautisco has still to pay back, without seeking approval from Nautisco’s board of directors. The court yesterday said there was no evidence proving that Nautisco had been made bankrupt by the deal with Leopard Capital. …