Legal battle over Devas-Antrix deal reaches Mauritius shores

The move by Mauritius authorities to take control of the three Mauritius firms that invested in Devas is part of a protracted legal battle between Indian authorities and the Devas Multimedia investors over a failed 2005 satellite deal that has resulted in compensation awards of up to $1.3 billion by international arbitration tribunals in favour of Devas Multimedia and its foreign investors.

Based on a plea by Antrix Corp, the National Company Law Tribunal in India ordered the liquidation of Devas Multimedia in India on charges of fraud in its incorporation two years ago. The order was upheld by the Supreme Court of India earlier this year.

The three Mauritius investors in Devas Multimedia have approached the US federal court for the Western District of Washington for recognition of CCDM Holdings, LLC, Telcom Devas, LLC, and Devas Employees Fund US, LLC together as “the Delaware parents” of the Mauritius firms in order to intervene in ongoing efforts by Mauritius authorities – at the behest of the DoS – to liquidate them.

“Four weeks ago, a Mauritian government agency notified the Mauritian shareholders that—based upon intelligence obtained from a foreign authority, later confirmed as India’s Department of Space—it intended to revoke their business licences and seize control of the companies. The Mauritian shareholders obtained a temporary injunction from a Mauritian court…,” the US court was told in a motion moved on May 11 for recognition of the “Delaware parents” of the Mauritius investors.