A long-running corporate lawsuit involving an alleged employee conspiracy that spanned continents settled this summer in Kansas City. Seaboard Corp. filed suit against Grindrod Ltd., four years ago, claiming fraud and other counts. Also a defendant in the suit is Kevin Neilson, a former Seaboard executive who left the company in the midst of a profitable joint venture with Grindrod and then allegedly convinced three other key players in the negotiations to resign to take positions with the African company. Seabord's attorney, Patrick Stueve, of Stueve Siegel Hanson, who previously told the Daily Record he expected the case to go to trial, didn't return a phone call from a reporter. The case made its rounds in appellate and federal courts before the recent settlement, however. The case was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri shortly after the original filing with the defendants arguing for arbitration in New York. It was remanded to circuit court in August 2006. Grindrod then asked Midkiff to stay the case based on a motion to compel arbitration. Grindrod filed the motion in New York based on a forum selection clause in an asset purchase agreement, but Midkiff denied the motion. The defendants then in January 2008 argued before the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District that there were two applicable arbitration agreements that required it to be settled out of court. Neilson claimed a clause in his employment letter required claims against him be arbitrated. However, he never signed the letter, so the appellate panel ruled there was no enforceable arbitration.

Grindrod Ltd. announced earnings results for the first half year ended June 30, 2009. For the period, the company reported headline earnings per share, in line with its trading update, were 56% down to 105.7 cents from the comparable half-year figure of 242.8 cents.

Alan Olivier, CEO of Grindrod Ltd. said, “We are looking for opportunities to make acquisitions in the shipping industry. This weak market gives us the opportunity to grow.” He added that the firm has no specific target in sight, noting only that economic conditions were likely to “put pressure on some ship owners, creating the opportunity for acquisitions.” He noted, for example, that the container shipping industry “was bleeding”, owing to a sharp reduction in trade brought on by the global economic crisis, with “revenue going through the floor.” He believes that Grindrod is in a good position to take advantage of acquisition opportunities as the company has already positioned itself for a weaker market in 2008. He added, “Our liquidity is good.” Grindrod generated earnings of ZAR 4838 million for the six months ended June 30, 2009, compared with ZAR 11 billion for the corresponding period last year.