HCI PULLS OUT OF SHARE REPURCHASE PROPOSAL AS CONDITIONS ARE UNFULFILLED

Cape Town – Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI), which has investments in sectors including financial services and cellular telecommunications, said yesterday it had pulled out of a recent share repurchase proposal involving 12,5 percent of the issued HCI shares currently held by MIC Media Technology Holdings and the Mineworkers Social Benefit Trust. This was after the HCI board was informed that the required conditions had not been fulfilled. “Some of the conditions have not been fulfilled and one particular condition will not be fulfilled,” HCI said. Directors were unavailable to elaborate further yesterday. The initial announcement by HCI on March 7 also said that South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu) Investments Group would acquire 5,7 percent of the issued HCI shares. It also said a consortium led by Sactwu would have to make a general offer to all shareholders in HCI. This had also fallen away because conditions surrounding the original transaction had not been met, HCI said. In December HCI posted a R7,4 million loss in the six months to September from a R1,1 million loss a year ago, which translated into a headline loss of 20,7c a share from 10,1c previously. Directors blamed the slide on HCI’s greater share in the losses of Midi TV. But they anticipated satisfactory returns from the group’s main investments going forward. HCI lost 30c to close at R3,70 on the JSE Securities Exchange yesterday.

Source: Business Report – Vera von Lieres