Following the announcement to shareholders on 8 April 2014, Grindrod Limited, the integrated shipping and logistics business, and Brimstone Investment Corporation Limited (Brimstone), both listed on the JSE, are pleased to announce the successful completion of the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) transaction which has resulted in 8,4% shareholding in Grindrod Limited held by the Black Empowerment Consortium (the Consortium) for a total consideration of R1,6 billion.
The Consortium is led by Brimstone holding a 59% share, Calulo Investments Proprietary Limited (Calulo) holding 20%, Solethu Investments Proprietary Limited (Solethu) holding 13%, Safika Holdings Proprietary Limited holding 5% and Adopt-A- School Foundation NPC (Adopt-A- School) holding 3% of the shares respectively.
Calulo, Adopt-A- School and Solethu previously held shares in Grindrod subsidiaries and have restructured their shareholding through the Consortium at listed company level.
Grindrod Limited CEO Alan Olivier said that this investment, together with R2,4 billion raised through the issue of 96 million new shares earlier this year in an accelerated bookbuild, would fund planned capital infrastructure projects. We’ve been in business with Calulo and Solethu for some time and value their contribution to our business. We are very pleased to have Brimstone as the leading shareholder in this consortium and look forward to their valuable input. Following the restructure of shareholding from the subsidiary level to the holding level, Adopt-A- School remains a shareholder which will assist the Foundation to continue their good work in transforming schools in underprivileged communities throughout South Africa.
Brimstone’s CEO, Mustaq Brey said: “We continuously seek investment opportunities which will create long-term value for our shareholders. The BEE Transaction allows us to establish infrastructure as a new focus area (alongside our portfolio of healthcare, food and financial services clusters) and is something we’ve been investigating for some time.
“With its diversified suite of well-placed quality assets, Grindrod represents a long- term investment in African infrastructure development which is an attractive and growing asset class.” – Mustaq Brey
“Grindrod shares are currently tightly held and it’s difficult to acquire a substantial shareholding in the company. The BEE Transaction enables us to acquire a meaningful stake on a leveraged basis and we look forward to contributing to the Company’s ongoing success.”