Star 2021-09-30

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za DISTELL Group Holdings said yesterday that “satisfactory progress” had been made regarding its potential transaction following a bid by Heineken, Europe’s biggest and the world’s second biggest brewer, to acquire full control of the South African liquor group. However, Distell, with brands such as Amarula, Savanna, Hunter’s Dry, Durbanville Hills and Nederburg, warned in a trading update yesterday that there was no certainty at this stage that a deal would be concluded, and discussions about certain issues still needed to be agreed. “The parties are committed to finalising these outstanding issues in the shortest possible time frame and Distell will inform shareholders immediately upon their finalisation,” the group said Heineken first expressed its interest to acquire Distell on May 18, saying at the time this would be…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE BUREAU for Economic Research (BER) has warned of a prolonged recovery in industries including real estate, transport and hospitality due to continued subdued activity even after the easing of lockdown restrictions. The BER yesterday said harsher lockdown and unrest had hit transport, real estate and hospitality industries in the three months to September, in spite of confidence in the other services sector rising for the fifth consecutive quarter. Data from the BER showed that confidence in the other services sector rose from 34 index points in the second quarter to 37 index points in the third quarter of 2021. The “other services sector” is made up of the hotels, restaurants, transport, real estate and business services, to distinguish them from the retail, wholesale and motor trade…

Banele Ginindza banele.ginindza@inl.co.za ORGANISED labour has strenuously stated its case for a 75 percent shareholder majority to vote on remunera- tion implementation in companies rather than the current 50 percent plus 1 percent, the only sticking point in the amendments to the Companies Bill, which is due for publishing tomorrow for public comment, flighted by Department of Trade Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel. He also said the buzzword of the amendments to the bill was greater transparency. Briefing the media on the amendments yesterday, Patel conceded that organised labour opposed the approvals of business forums – including Nedlac and Business Unity South Africa – on the voting power of shareholders on major resolutions affecting remuneration in the workplace. The bill largely seeks to…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE MOMENTUM Metropolitan Health Group, one of the biggest private healthcare groups with more than 3.2 million clients, is partnering with major labour unions and notable black business leaders to help it provide healthcare for more South Africans. The group announced a transaction yesterday that will see 32 percent of its shareholding owned by Nehawu Investment Holdings, the investment company of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), Popcru Group of Companies (PGC), investment company of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union, as well as business leaders in the health sector: Dr Gil Mahlati, Professor Lucky Mathebula, Dr Ntombi Mutshekwane, Mogologolo Phasha, Dr Sello Rathete and Dr David Sekete. Momentum Metropolitan Health chief executive Hannes Viljoen said the deal, the rand value of…

Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za AFRICA’S mobile giant MTN retained its ranking as the continent’s most valuable brand and retail bank Capitec overtook Vodacom to be crowned Africa’s strongest brand in the Brand Finance 2021 Top 150 survey. According to the 2021 Brand Finance Africa Top 150 survey MTN was this week named Africa’s most valuable brand despite the group recording a 19 percent decline value to $2.7 billion (R41bn). MTN South Africa also towered above competitors on home soil and held on to its decade-long reign as South Africa’s most valuable brand. South African companies dominated the survey with a total of 81 brands featured to the value of $29bn, equating to 73 percent of the total brand value. MTN and Vodacom with a brand value of $1.7bn…

WE REPLACE unit trust managers when we no longer think they are better than average. In our view, above-average specialist managers outperform their market benchmarks, while above-average multi-asset managers need to outperform their peers. Managers may become mediocre for various reasons, and our investment process focuses on the internal rating of three qualitative pillars rather than short-term (under)performance. These pillars qualitatively assess whether managers are above average in terms of their organisational structure and stability; people and support; and their investment approach. In the organisational structure and stability pillar, for example, some of the areas we focus on are misaligned incentives, lack of majority control, and inability to reach critical scale. This pillar also looks at whether the firm is managing its own evolution appropriately, or is ill-placed to succeed.…