Johannesburg - Cement maker Pretoria Portland Cement [JSE:PPC] is to
sell a 6.5% stake to its staff and black investors in a deal worth about
R1.1bn, to meet the country's affirmative action rules.
PPC said the deal - the second in four years - would take
shareholding by black investors in its domestic operations to 26% and enable it
meet the rules set out by the government.
Companies in South Africa have to meet quotas on black
ownership, employment and procurement as part of a government drive to shift
more of the mostly white-controlled economy into the hands of the black
majority.
Johannesburg-based PPC said on Thursday it would cancel
about 20 million treasury shares it bought back to help counter the dilutive
effect of the new 39.3 million shares to be issued for the transaction.
The company's 2 400 South African employees will be issued
68% of the new shares and existing and new women groups would take up
the rest.
The transaction value of about R1.1bn is based on the 30-day
volume-weighted average price of PPC shares of R27.39 per share as of Monday,
July 9.
The company's stock fell 1.5% at R26.19.