Court to rule in THB100bn Mahagitsiri-Nestlé case on December 21
Thailand’s Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court will rule on December 21 in a 100-billion-baht lawsuit filed by the Mahagitsiri family against Nestlé.
- The Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court is scheduled to deliver its judgment on December 21, 2026, in a 100-billion-baht lawsuit between the Mahagitsiri family and the Nestlé group.
- The Mahagitsiri family accuses Nestlé of tortious acts, including pressuring them to sell shares in their joint venture at an undervalued price and intentionally undermining the business.
- The lawsuit is a key part of a larger corporate dispute that arose after the end of a 35-year business relationship, which has resulted in at least 10 separate legal and regulatory actions.
The Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court has scheduled December 21, 2026, to deliver its judgment in a 100-billion-baht lawsuit filed by members of the Mahagitsiri family against companies in the Nestlé group.
A court source told Thansettakij that the judgment would be delivered at 9am in Courtroom 15, following witness hearings involving both sides during the middle of 2026.
The plaintiffs accuse the defendants of committing tortious acts and exercising their rights in bad faith. The amount in dispute is 100 billion baht.
Case transferred from Min Buri Civil Court
The case is registered as Black Case No. Tor Por 92/2025.
Chalermchai Mahagitsiri, Suvimol Mahagitsiri and Prayudh Mahagitsiri filed the lawsuit on April 3, 2025.
It was initially submitted to Min Buri Civil Court as Black Case No. Phor 571/2025 before being transferred to the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court under a determination issued by the president of the Court of Appeal on June 20, 2025.
Mahagitsiri family alleges repeated wrongdoing
According to the statement of claim, the plaintiffs allege that the defendants committed a series of continuing tortious acts.
The allegations include pressuring the plaintiffs to sell their shares at an undervalued price, failing to comply with a joint-venture agreement and deliberately preventing Quality Coffee Products Co Ltd, or QCP, from conducting its business in order to undermine the value of its shares.
The six defendants named in the case are:
- Nestlé S.A.
- Société des Produits Nestlé S.A.
- Nestlé (Thai) Ltd
- Ramon Mendivil Gil
- Nestlé ROAS (Thailand) Ltd
- Nestlé Trading (Thailand) Ltd
The allegations have not yet been ruled upon by the court.
Both sides complete witness hearings
The court heard evidence from the plaintiffs’ witnesses between late May and mid-June 2026.
The witnesses called by the plaintiffs included Yiam Yukanthoratham, Worapong Suthanon and Piyachon Jaijongkit.
The defendants presented their witnesses from late June until mid-July 2026. They included Nattapong Thongkaew, Muhammad Ikram Zafar, Thomas Keller, Somchai Yuangkan, Bryan Campbell and Nareerat Phothikun.
After completing the examination of witnesses from both sides, the court scheduled the judgment hearing for December 21.
The ruling will mark a major stage in a business dispute that has continued since early 2025.
Dispute follows end of 35-year business relationship
The conflict between Swiss food and beverage group Nestlé and the Mahagitsiri family, which helped establish domestic Nescafé production in Thailand, has become one of the country’s most closely watched corporate disputes in recent years.
Their business relationship lasted for approximately 35 years through the joint venture Quality Coffee Products.
It eventually ended in multiple legal proceedings in Thailand and overseas, covering civil and criminal cases as well as complaints submitted to regulatory authorities. At least 10 separate matters have reportedly arisen from the dispute.
In another case before the intellectual property court, Chalermchai sued Nestlé directors and executives over alleged breaches of their duties.
Those allegations include the improper charging of distribution fees, the unlawful allocation of marketing expenses and commercial activities allegedly competing with QCP. The amount in dispute in that case is approximately 21.975 billion baht.
The separate 100-billion-baht lawsuit concerns allegations that the Nestlé group pressured the Mahagitsiri side to sell shares at a low price, failed to honour the joint-venture agreement and intentionally made it impossible for QCP to operate, thereby damaging its share value.
Nestlé affiliate files separate THB577m claim
A Nestlé-affiliated company has, in turn, filed a lawsuit against Prayudh Mahagitsiri and others.
The company alleges that the defendants exercised their rights in bad faith and concealed material facts when seeking an interim protection order, causing damage to Nestlé.
The amount claimed in that case is approximately 577 million baht.
An interim order protecting Nestlé’s trademark rights remains in effect until the relevant case reaches a final conclusion.
Criminal and regulatory complaints also filed
The Mahagitsiri side has also filed a criminal complaint with the Economic Crime Suppression Division.
The allegations concern fraud, failures to record company accounts properly and the alleged non-disclosure of distribution fees and marketing expenses.
Complaints have also been submitted to the Department of Business Development, requesting an examination of alleged accounting irregularities and a shareholding structure that may potentially involve nominee arrangements under Thailand’s Foreign Business Act.
The Mahagitsiri side has additionally asked the Department of Special Investigation to accept the matter as a special case.
A complaint has also been submitted to the Federation of Accounting Professions seeking an investigation into the professional ethics of QCP’s auditor.
All the claims described remain allegations by the parties and are still under consideration by the courts or relevant authorities. No final determination has been made on the substance of most of the disputes.
Source: Thansettakij
