Pretoria News 2022-06-23

TONGAAT-Hulett, under fire from a group of minority shareholders on its plans for a highly dilutive R5 billion rights issue which it requires to alleviate its debt burden, has rejected a R3.2bn offer for its Mozambique sugar operations. It emerged yesterday from Mozambican news sources that US-based Lusitania Investment Capital was in “negotiations” with Tongaat about a $220 million (about R3.5bn) that the US group had offered for the assets, including the agricultural and industrial assets in Xinavane and Mafam-bisse. Tongaat is Mozambique’s biggest private-sector employer. Tongaat has accumulated debt of some R6.8bn, but a R5bn rights issue to recapitalise was dealt a blow by the recent ruling of the Takeover Regulation Panel (TRP) to remove an exemption for Magister, the rights issue underwriter that is owned by…

THE COST OF living in South Africa could accelerate further to steeper levels as fuel prices are expected to increase again in July, lifting upward pressure on food inflation and basic services. This comes as consumer inflation in South Africa surged to a five-year high in May, breaking through the upper limit of the South African Reserve Bank’s monetary policy target range of 3 to 6 percent. Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) said yesterday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) quickened to 6.5 percent in May from 5.9 percent in April and March, rising above market expectations of 6.2 percent. This was the highest reading since January 2017 when the rate was 6.6 percent as prices continued to accelerate mostly for transport on account of rising global…

AGRI SA YESTERDAY made a clarion call for the government to step in after Tiger Brands gave notice of its intention to close down its canning factory in Ashton, Western Cape, after it failed to find a buyer, which will hit 4 500 workers and cause socio-economic devastation to the surrounding community. The canning factory has been in operation for more than 70 years and supplies fruit for Tiger Brands’ KOO brand as well as international brands like Silverleaf and GoldReef. South Africa’s largest food producer Tiger Brands confirmed yesterday it had embarked on the labour consultation process on the future of its deciduous fruit business Langeberg & Ashton Foods (L&AF), a division of Tiger Consumer Brands after a two-year search for a buyer had failed. Tiger Brands indicated…

STADIO Holdings, the listed investment holdings company invested in private higher education institutions, entered a growth phase this year with its eye on widening access to education, while it has also set its sights on topping Unisa in distance education. This was according to chief executive Chris Vorster, who spoke during the group’s virtual annual meeting yesterday. Stadio’s three investments, Stadio Higher Education, Milpark Education and AFDA, had focused on establishing and positioning the business from 2016 to 2020, while this year the group was consolidating and positioning to implement its growth strategy, with a target for sustainable growth in profit of more than 20 percent in the long term, with minimal capital requirements, he said. “We achieved 8 to 9 percent growth in our student numbers over…

ORION Minerals’ share price plummeted by almost 12 percent yesterday after the company announced that it was raising a A$20 million (R222m) in capital to fund its early production strategy in the Northern Cape’s base metal projects. The shares closed 11.54 percent lower at 23 cents on the JSE yesterday after the copper developer said the capital raised would be in a three-tranche share placement with firm commitments received for the two phases. Sydney and Johannesburg-listed Orion said the two phases would raise about A$6m combined. Orion’s managing director and chief executive, Errol Smart, said: “We have decided to undertake the placement in three tranches to allow the many investors with whom we have had a positive engagement in recent weeks some additional time to finalise…

The Competition Appeal Court (CAC) has ruled that Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), via its subsidiary, was in breach of merger conditions over the retrenchment of 368 bargaining unit employees in 2019. The Competition Commission said in a statement yesterday that it welcomed the decision of CAC, handed down on June 17, to uphold an appeal that CCBA was in breach of merger conditions when its subsidiary, Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa, had retrenched workers in 2019. “The matter ultimately relates to two mergers involving Coca-Cola, which were approved with conditions in May 2016 and September 2017, which conditions sought to provide protection to employees who are members of the bargaining unit, from being retrenched as a result of the mergers,” the commission said. In September 2021 the Competition Tribunal ruled…