SHC restrains Quice Food from proceeding with merger with Indus Food Products

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has restrained Quice Food Industries from taking any more steps with respect to its proposed merger with Indus Food Products. The SHC issued the order while hearing a Judicial Companies Miscellaneous No. 43 of 2026 filed by 26.87% shareholders of Quice Food. “Let notice be issued to the respondents as well as Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) for a date to be fixed in the first week after the summer vacation wherein on the said date, SECP shall submit a report as to shareholding of parties available in their record and their standing on the merger impugned in the matter. Till the said date, no further steps in regard to merger proceedings is to take place,” the order read. Earlier, on June 23, 2026, Quice Food had held an Extraordinary General Meeting where it was claimed that the company’s general body had acquiesced to its merger with Indus Food Products. The shareholders who approached the court through JCM No. 43 of 2026, however, argued that Section 279(2) of the Companies Act, 2017 provides that a merger needs to be approved by at least 75% of a company’s general body. They highlighted that given that more than 26% of Quice’s general body was opposing the merger, the same could not have been approved by 75% of the general body. The shareholders also raised allegations about the manner in which the Extraordinary General Meeting was conducted on June 23, 2026. The shareholders highlighted that they were restrained from casting their votes at the meeting and were mala fidely excluded from the electoral process. It may be noted that Quice Food’s proposed merger has previously attracted controversy too, with various shareholders approaching the High Court against not only the merger’s form but also its substance. Previously, certain shareholders had preferred Judicial Companies Miscellaneous No. 29 of 2026, assailing the Share-Swap Ratio proposed by Quice Food Industry’s Board of Directors and the opacity which shrouded Indus Food Product’s financial strength.