SOUTH AFRICA – Distell’s merger with Capevin and planned restructuring of its corporate structure is set to be completed at the end of May, reported BusinessDay citing information from analyst.
A Sens announcement issued revealed that Capevin, which holds a 29% stake in Distell, will be suspended from JSE on May 30, and its shareholders will receive about 0.067 shares in newly listed Distell Group Holdings Limited (DGHL) for every one Capevin share held.
On the other hand, Distell shareholders will exchange one share for one share in DGHL, which will officially list on the JSE on May 30.
In the DGHL, Remgro, a Stellenbosch investment giant will remain the controlling shareholder with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) ranking as a major shareholder.
The new company DGHL will hold the known liquor brands including Savanna, Hunter’s, Amarula, Klipdrift, Nederburg, Fleur du Cap, Durbanville Hills, Richelieu, Tassenberg, Three Ships and 4th Street.
Plans for a major restructuring of its multi-tiered ownership structure were approved by Distell shareholders in October 2017.
Opportune Investments CEO Chris Logan noted that the move to change long-standing Capevin structure would improve the demand, liquidity and marketability of the new Distell shares and improve its investment appeal to both foreign and local investors.
The restructuring plan was further delayed by the competition authority which tied approval on condition that Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) investors receive 20% of its previous 26.8% stake in Distell.
The commission earlier noted that although the proposed transaction was unlikely to significantly prevent or lessen competition, it would negatively affect the previously imposed divestiture conditions, thus may affect the public.
