Amsterdam’s company court has put a temporary halt to the takeover of Dutch artificial fertiliser firm OCI by an Egyptian construction group.

The Dutch investors’ association VEB had launched legal proceedings against the planned takeover of OCI by Orascom Construction, both of which are majority owned by Nassef Sawiris, who is described as Egypt’s richest man.

Shareholders are due to vote on the deal on Thursday, but given both companies are controlled by the family, that would have been a formality.

The court ruled that Thursday’s vote cannot go ahead and named two temporary directors to check whether the takeover has been properly prepared and whether smaller shareholders are being disadvantaged, as the VEB fears.

Under the proposal, OCI shareholders would receive 0.4634 shares in Egyptian construction multinational Orascom for each OCI share.

The VEB argues that the valuation is too low and describes the structure as “absurd”, saying it would force investors into a completely different business listed in Abu Dhabi, a market with limited liquidity and weaker protection for minority shareholders.