No retrial in coffee royalty divorce settlement: Supreme Court

Legally, this decision closes the seven-year legal battle between coffee giant Trung Nguyen Group’s chairman Dang Le Nguyen Vu and his ex-wife Le Hoang Diep Thao.

The decision was made by the Judicial Council of the Supreme People’s Court after a meeting Friday afternoon, but its deliberations and rationale have not been made public.

Vu, 50, and Thao, 48, married in 1998. She filed for divorce in 2015.

Thao asked for 51 percent of Trung Nguyen Investment, the holding company that owns a majority of shares in the Trung Nguyen Group.

She also proposed they should each get 15 percent (VND814 billion, $35 million) of the Trung Nguyen Group and 7.5 percent (VND43 billion, $1.85 million) of Trung Nguyen Instant Coffee.

She agreed to give Vu her shares in four other companies under the Trung Nguyen brand.

The Supreme People’s Court ordered in May last year that Vu would get 59.1 percent of the combined assets of VND7.93 trillion ($345 million) while Thao would get the remaining 40.9 percent.

As for shares in the companies, valued at VND5.65 trillion, it ruled that they should be split 60:40 in Vu’s favor and he would retain management of Trung Nguyen.

In January this year, the Supreme People’s Procuracy said the divorce should be overturned due to mistakes in the trial process and suggested a retrial.