Cape Times 2021-04-26

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za EMIRA Property Fund has received a mandatory R2.87 billion offer from Maitlantic 10 Proprietary (Maitlantic) and Clearance Cantara Master Fund (CC) after Maitlantic and its partners took control of 35.03 percent of Emira’s shares. Maitlantic and its partners have made a mandatory offer to acquire all of Emira’s shares for R9.15 a share, cash. Emira said on Friday that an independent board would review the offer. Emira’s JSE share price closed 2.35 percent higher at R9.57 on Friday. The price has drifted steadily upwards over a year from R7.60. The offer price was 2.6 percent lower than Friday’s price, and was much lower than Emira’s net asset value per share of R14.75 per share at December 31. Two of Emira’s existing shareholders, Luxanio Trading 157 and Tamela…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE GOVERNMENT has blamed bureaucracy as a reason behind the delays in securing funding for the troubled state-owned SA Airways (SAA) and its subsidiary, Mango Airlines. This comes after reports that the low-cost carrier, Mango, will temporarily suspend its operations for about two months from May 1 due to a severe cash crunch at the airline. Mango has been the saving grace for the cash-strapped SAA group of companies following a protracted business rescue process and the grounding of its aircraft due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) on Friday indicated that the national airline and Mango’s funding process was now in the hands of lawmakers in Parliament. Department spokesperson Richard Mantu said they were in discussions with the boards about the repositioning…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za STANDARD Bank said on Friday that the operating environment in South Africa remained difficult in the first quarter to end March, partly due to Covid-19, electricity supply disruptions and low consumer and business confidence. It said the GDP growth in 2021, and beyond, remained highly uncertain and that the recovery was likely to be uneven across geography and sector. “However, as base effects begin to unwind, GDP growth will probably recover in the second quarter of 2021. Inflation is expected to remain relatively benign across the group’s countries of operation,” the group said. In an operational update to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which holds more than a 20 percent stake of its stock, Standard Bank said its performance in the first quarter relative…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE JSE TRADED in the green on Friday, after the South African government announced its support for the resumption of the Johnson & Johnson vaccination programme. The government on Thursday said that the temporary suspension of the J&J vaccine on the Sisonke Vaccination Programme would be lifted, but a date was yet to be confirmed. The JSE All Share Index rose 0.46 percent to 67 278 points, lifted by gains in resources, industrial metals and mining, and consumer services. The JSE’s benchmark index took advantage as US equities traded lower as global investors turned cautious after US President Joe Biden announced plans to tax the wealthy. The economic picture continues to improve in the US with initial claims for unemployment insurance falling to 547…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za MTN ZAKHELE Futhi, the mobile operator’s special purpose empowerment vehicle, has received a further R75 million to lessen the blow from MTN Group’s decision to withhold the final dividend for the year to the end of December 2020. The scheme’s chairperson, Belinda Mapongwana, said the money would enable MTN Zakhele Futhi to meet its cash requirements for the next 12 months. Last September, MTN Zakhele received a R15m injection to meet its financial commitments after MTN withheld its interim dividend in the six months to the end of June last year. “The 2020 financial year has been a challenging year for MTN Zakhele Futhi, and for the first time in recent history MTN Group announced that no interim dividend would be paid for the six-month period ended…

Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za Adapt IT has informed its shareholders that Blacksheep Master Fund, which holds a 44.4 percent stake in the company, had given Volaris its irrevocable undertaking to support its bid for the takeover of the South African software company. Volaris, a subsidiary of Toronto-listed Constellation Software, tabled an offer to acquire 100 percent of the issued share capital of Adapt IT on April 7 for 650 cents a share, which represented a premium of 56.9 percent to the 30-day volume-weighted average-traded price of Adapt IT shares on the JSE of 414c as at January 26, which was the last trading date before the date on which the general offer by Huge Group to Adapt IT shareholders was announced. Constellation Software has more than 125 000…