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Johannesburg - e.tv and Golden Arrow parent Hosken Consolidated Investments' annual general meeting - held at the plush Fricker Road offices of its financial services subsidiary Mettle - was a quick, pedestrian and badly attended affair.
Besides the presence of chairperson Marcel Golding, CEO Johnny Copelyn, directors Andre van der Veen and Elias Mphande and company secretary Kevin Govender, there were only two shareholder representatives present.
All resolutions were passed, including re-electing Golding, Copelyn, Van der Veen, Mphande and Tsogo Sun CEO Jabu Mabuza to the board.
A special resolution allowing the company to repurchase shares was also passed. HCI shares are tightly held, with the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union holding 40.4% of the company, Copelyn and Golding holding 10.2% and 7.2% respectively; a share buyback would make trade even more illiquid.
Tsogo in sight
HCI has been involved in a protracted battle for control of hotel and gaming empire Tsogo Sun through progressively building up its stake in 51% Tsogo Sun parent Tsogo Investment Holdings (TIH).
Tsogo Sun, in turn, runs a number of casinos, including Montecasino in Fourways north of Johannesburg. It also owns the Southern Sun hotel group. SABMiller owns the remaining 49% of Tsogo Sun, an investment which it labels non-core, but not up for sale.
It even silenced then rival Johnnic Holdings - which was also vying for control of TIH - by building up a controlling stake in that company and installing HCI directors into leadership, ousting former chairman Cyril Ramaphosa and CEO Christine Ramon (who subsequently joined Sasol).
Copelyn told fin24 that when all the approvals for the purchase of TIH stakes from the Foundation for African Business and Consumer Business'
investment arm, (Fabvest, though Fabvest Investment Holdings, FIH) and African Renaissance come through, HCI will have a 74.7% stake in TIH.
Nafhold delays
However, HCI has been met with opposition from Nafhold, an investment arm of the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc), which owns a 25% stake in TIH.
Nafhold has lodged objections at gaming boards around the country relating to HCI's purchase of the 19% Fabvest stake and the African Renaissance stake in TIH.
In late 2005 - just before Johnnic was effectively usurped by HCI - Johnnic had struck a deal with Nafhold to buy its 25% stake in TIH for R675m. Given HCI's victory, the deal came to nothing.
At the beginning of November this year - almost a year later - HCI then offered Nafhold R750m for its stake in TIH, an 11% premium on the pre-HCI-controlled Johnnic offer.
However, internal skirmishes at Nafcoc could place the brakes on Nafhold-s decision to accept or reject the offer. This follows reports that the chamber-s Gauteng branch sought to have Nafcoc national executive elections (held in early November) declared null and void by means of applying for an interdict from the Johannesburg high court, according to Business Report.
Copelyn told fin24 he hoped the deal would be concluded by the end of the year. "We hope they take it as a sincere effort to accommodate their exit at a fair price," he said.