Court Rules Grupo Mexico CEO, Controlling Shareholder Germán Larrea to be Formally Notified of Personal Lawsuit Against Him by Infund LLP; Seven Percent of Grupo Mexico Equity Still Frozen; Comprises Larrea Controlling Stake in Conglomerate

A Mexican district court has ruled that Germán Larrea (“Larrea”), CEO and controlling shareholder of Grupo Mexico, S.A.B. de CV (“GMexico”) be notified of a lawsuit against him via newspaper announcement after almost three months of the Mexican billionaire’s legal maneuvering.

The suit, filed on May 3, 2013, by U.K. investment firm Infund LLP (“Infund”), alleges that Larrea, no. 40 on the Forbes “The World’s Billionaires” list in 2013 and the third richest man in Mexico, breached a “commercial commission contract” when he refused to settle a 2003 securities purchase by Infund for $75 million in GMexico Series B, Coupon 5 shares. The disputed securities, which now represent seven percent of GMexico’s outstanding equity and an amount in excess of Larrea’s controlling stake in GMexico, were frozen in a June 2013 judicial decree pending conclusion of the litigation.

Although Larrea and GMexico have repeatedly appealed the June 2013 injunction to no avail, Larrea has until now avoided official notification of the underlying case. Pursuant to Mexican law, despite Larrea’s judicial maneuvering to lift the injunction, plaintiff Infund must now rely on newspaper announcements for the case to proceed.

“Although it is not uncommon for a defendant to avoid or delay judicial notification of a lawsuit, we had hoped this case would proceed to the merits without such unfortunate tactics,” said Jose Antonio Marvan Lizardi, Infund’s Mexico City representative. “It has taken almost 10 years for my client to get its day in court. If the defendant needs an additional few weeks of newspaper ads so he can prepare, so be it. We look forward to making our case.”

Infund is a securities firm registered in London. Trial counsel for Infund is the Mexico City law firm Rios-Ferrer, Guillen-Llarena, Trevino & Rivera SC.