INVESTMENT group Hoskens Consolidated Investments (HCI) has taken effective control of gaming company Tsogo Sun by buying another chunk of the company from the Foundation for African Business and Consumer Services (Fabcos), in a deal worth R460m. HCI previously held 32% of Tsogo Investment Holdings, which owned 51% of Tsogo Sun. Under this deal HCI gets 19% of Tsogo Investment Holdings, giving it 51% of the company and, in turn, Tsogo Sun. This consolidates HCI’s hold over the largest hotel and entertainment group in southern Africa. Tsogo Sun’s interests include Gauteng’s Montecasino, KwaZulu-Natal’s Suncoast Casino, Hemingway’s Casino in Eastern Cape and about 82 hotels in the Southern Sun Hotels Group. This deal comes after communications company Johnnic bought an effective 9,7% in Tsogo Sun by buying into Fabcos Investment Holding Company. As the Fabcos Trust will also get HCI shares, the company said this would also boost its black empowerment status. In a complicated deal involving various corporate structures, HCI is buying all the shares in Fabvest. Fabvest owns 75% of Fabcos Investment Holdings (FIH), which in turn holds the Tsogo Sun shares. Altogether the deal is worth R460m, with HCI making a cash payment of R147m to the Fabcos Trust and transferring 15,5-million HCI shares to the trust. SABMiller owns the remaining 49% of Tsogo Sun directly. Until now, HCI’s main investment was in television station etv, which contributed R61m to the company’s R97m profit for the six months to September.

Source: Business Day – Rob Rose