Nampak rebrands, lists Zim units

Harare - JSE-listed and Africa’s biggest packaging firm Nampak [JSE:NPK], has rebranded its Zimbabwe based subsidiaries to Nampak Zimbabwe.

The rebranding follows Nampak’s decision to consolidate its shares in three Zimbabwean packaging firms, Hunyani Holdings, MegaPak and Carnaud Metalbox under a new company, Nampak Zimbabwe, in which it will own 51.43%.

As a result of the rebranding, the subsidiaries are now listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) in place of one of the subsidiaries Hunyani Holdings.

"Shareholders of Hunyani Holdings Limited are hereby advised that, with the sanction of a special resolution at the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company, the Company has changed its name to Nampak Zimbabwe Limited," the company said in a statement.

Analyts say the consolidation of operations will go a long way in cutting costs and overheads for the company’s packaging interests in Zimbabwe.

It will also position Nampak as the strongest packaging entity in Zimbabwe.  Nampak intends to inject $10m into Zimbabwe over the next 12 months.

Meanwhile another South African company Nedbank [JSE:NED] is also reportedly considering rebranding its Zimbabwe based banking unit MBCA Bank to Nedbank.

Thulani Vilakazi, Nedbank Africa subsidiaries’ head of strategy, marketing and communication, revealed the plans to rebrand MBCA to the Financial Gazette in an interview on the sidelines of an investors conference organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe at Legend Golf & Resort in Polokwane, South Africa sometime in October.

He said Zimbabwe was one of the bank’s priority markets, and that rebranding of MBCA would spur growth. He said the Zimbabwean unit’s trade finance was the biggest earner in the Nedbank stable. “We decided it’s time to push this brand (Nedbank) into Zimbabwe and next year its (MBCA) going to be Nedbank Zimbabwe,” Vilakazi said.

"We want to grow as a bank and the launch of Nedbank in Zimbabwe will provide a new platform to grow the business."