Exchange-Listed Companies

Capital & Regional is to acquire The Gyle Shopping Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland for a total acquisition consideration of £40 million. The acquisition will be financed through existing funds held by the company, a new debt facility of £16 million and c. £25 million from proceeds to be received from a fully underwritten (by Growthpoint) capital raise. The capital raise is being implemented by way of an open offer of 46,278,681 open offer shares. The issue price of 54 pence/R13,03 per share represents 4 open offer shares for every 15 existing ordinary shares. Approximately £1,6 million of the proceeds will be used to pay fees and expenses incurred in connection with the proposed transactions.

STANLIB Asset Management (Standard Bank) through its Infrastructure Fund II, has acquired a controlling interest in renewable energy solutions specialist Solareff and its subsidiary, GridCars. Solareff is a commercial and industrial solar and battery platform with over 500 projects to date and a total of over 190MW of installed capacity. GridCars is the owner, operator, and supplier of charge-network infrastructure with related network software for South Africa electric vehicles. Financial details were undisclosed.

PPC has concluded an equity transaction with a newly formed PPC Employee Share Ownership Trust which has acquired 10% of PPC South Africa for a purchase consideration of R380 million. All employees not currently participating in PPC’s long-term incentive programme will be eligible and participation will be weighted in favour of the historically disadvantaged. The company will provide the Trust with a loan of R380 million which will be repaid from 75% of the dividends that it will receive from it shareholding in PPC SA, with the remaining 25% distributed to the beneficiaries.

Remgro and Vodacom have advised that the Competition Commission has recommended to the Competition Tribunal to prohibit the proposed acquisition by Vodacom of a 30% interest in Maziv. The deal, first announced in November 2021, proposed that Maziv, a newly formed entity, would house the assets owned by Community Investment Ventures which included Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa as well as certain fibre assets of Vodacom.

Unlisted Companies

Fledge Capital, a local private equity firm, has invested an undisclosed sum in Luxury Time, an online business selling high-end watches at discounted prices. The new investment will be used to scale its inventory and enhance its online presence and customer service capabilities.

FinMeUp, a community-based platform dedicated to fostering a collaborative environment and offering a range of solutions including financial advisory, investments, insurance and credit solutions, has raised an undisclosed sum. The funding round was led by SAAD and Blue Sky Investments. The startup will use the funds to scale operations and enhance its user experience.

DealMakers is SA’s M&A publication.
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