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Johannesburg - Ascendis Health [JSE:ACS] announced on Tuesday that it has further strengthened its BEE ownership.
This is through the settlement of the first of three transfers of Ascendis ordinary shares from majority shareholder Coast2Coast (C2C), to WDB Investment Holdings (WDBIH) and Senatla Capital.
According to Ascendis CEO Dr Karsten Wellner, the rationale for concluding the original R50m BEE investment directly with C2C - announced last year - was to allow for WDBIH and Senatla Capital to achieve their focused investment mandates. It was also to enable Ascendis to benefit from increased BEE ownership and achieve its national transformation goals, while not diluting the positions of the current Ascendis shareholders.
WDBIH is a private enterprise which was formed in 1996 with its major beneficiary and shareholder being the WDB Trust, whose beneficiaries are a broad-base of rural women and communities. WDBIH’s investment mandate is to invest in high growth sectors in South Africa and Africa, where it can generate capital growth as well as access dividends.
Senatla Capital is a private equity investment manager that is 100% black owned. It has over the past five years accumulated assets under management exceeding R350m and is currently raising additional capital in its second fund.
According to Wellner, the latest agreement, as well as a previous R200m Mineworkers Investment Company deal, are strategically important for Ascendis and its underlying businesses. It brings the current BEE shareholding of Ascendis to about 14.3%, strengthening its position to service contracts for hospitals, clinics and government tenders, especially in light of the government’s commitment to implementation of the National Health Insurance scheme.
Wellner said there is a strong possibility of further exciting announcements in the near future.
