Government-owned company Transnet today announced the finalisation of the sale of its 18.7% stake in cellular operator MTN to a group representing employees and directors of the company.
Reuters reports that the deal will be valued at R4.3 billion or 13.89c per share, a premium of less than half a cent on intraday prices.
This represents an effective gain of more than R1 billion for Transnet, which concluded a deal in January to warehouse the stake with Ice Finance, a Dutch holding company linked to JP Morgan. The deal was concluded at $425 million, or R5.4 billion at the exchange rate at the time, but Transnet retained all voting rights and a veto over the sale of the shares.
At the time it was intended to find an equity investor, preferably foreign, to take up the stake.
The Department of Public Enterprises, owner of Transnet, and the Treasury say the deal will have no impact on the currency thanks to the recent recovery in the value of the rand.
The stake is now to be held by a vehicle named Newshelf 664, which will hold it on behalf of MTN employees who are current beneficiaries of the MTN Group`s share trust. According to MTN, unnamed financiers will also benefit from the transaction.
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