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  • Auditor-General Report: No consequences for 98% of misuse of public money in SA
    Auditor-General Report: No consequences for 98% of misuse of public money in
    SA. "Joy and adrenaline." That's how Jan van Schalkwyk, corporate executive in the
    Auditor-General's office, expressed his response to the news that the long-
    awaited Public Audit Amendment Act had been signed into law by President Cyril
    Ramaphosa three days before the country's audit outcomes were released on
    Wednesday. For Van Schalkwyk, this piece of legislation could hold the key to
    supplying something that South Africa's public entities are sorely lacking:
    consequences for irregular spending. "We know what we need to do in South
    Africa. We've probably got the money," Van Schalkwyk told an audience at UCT's
    Graduate School of Business on Wednesday evening. "But damn, we're not good at
    consequences." Van Schalkwyk estimates that over 98% of irregular expenditure
    of public funds in South Africa is not followed up on in any meaningful way.
    And there's a lot of it: "probably 160-billion" rand over the past few years, the
    auditor says. Irregular expenditure does not refer to flat-out theft. "This is
    money that was spent - you can find that there is a product or a service ,"
    said van Schalkwyk. "It's money spent where there was no respect for law."
    When it comes to both irregular expenditure and fruitless and wasteful
    expenditure - the latter increasing 200% over the last year - the same
    offenders keep popping up in government: the departments dealing with water,
    health, and education. Associate Professor Derek Powell, of the Dullah Omar
    Institute, suggested that provincial governments were under-scrutinised in
    this regard. Powell pointed out that the bulk of funding for provincial
    governments goes to remuneration in the fields of health and education. "It's
    always the national minister out there on education and health, and yet it's
    premiers who should be talking much more on that," Powell said. In terms of
    the provinces, the Western Cape and Gauteng have again emerged as the good
    news stories of the audits.Though the DA has already released a statement
    congratulating itself on running the "cleanest government", in the form of the
    Western Cape, Van Schalkwyk cautioned that direct comparisons between the two
    top provinces are misleading because Gauteng and the Western Cape are
    "structurally so different". But he said much could be learnt from both
    provinces. " good internal controls, good reporting, good follow-up and the
    results are there," Van Schalkwyk said. UCT researcher Dr Andrew Siddle
    suggested another two reasons for the top performance of the Western Cape and
    Gauteng. "Both have traditionally been far better resourced when it comes to
    HR," Siddle said, which he highlighted as a critical element. In addition,
    however, what the two provinces have in common is political competition. "The
    fear of politicians being voted out is what keeps them on their toes, and this
    is a more likely possibility in Gauteng and the Western Cape than in other
    provinces," Siddle said. While irregular and fruitless expenditure tend to hog
    the headlines, Van Schalkwyk also drew attention to the worrying trend of non-
    compliance with the Auditor-General's office from public entities. This year,
    there were 41 unfinished audits because the relevant entities failed to supply
    their records in time. "Why would you not have your records ready by the end
    of the year?" asked van Schalkwyk. "These are the guys that sit with huge
    irregular expenditure, and have 'lost' documents." In addition, 5-billion rand of
    transactions using public money could not be audited because there was
    absolutely no documentation available. "People ask us why the Auditor-General
    never picked up Nkandla," said Van Schalkwyk. "This is why - because the
    documents weren't there." In addition to non-cooperation with the Auditor-
    General's office, van Schalkwyk also expressed concern at recent reports of
    state auditors being threatened - and in one case in October, shot. But even
    despite these threats to security, the auditor said that the political climate
    in which their work is carried out is currently "a hell of a lot better than
    it was in the past". While the office is pinning its hopes on the Public Audit
    Amendment Act bestowing greater authority on its findings, a few other
    suggestions have been made to ensure that 2019's audit outcomes paint a more
    positive picture. The Auditor-General has called on oversight bodies -
    including Parliament's portfolio committees - to do their jobs better. When it
    comes to state-owned entities, Van Schalkwyk pointed out that each SEO is
    attached to a government department, which should sharpen its watchdog role.
    "The mother departments can wake up," he said. From the perspective of Siddle,
    it would also be helpful for South Africa's institutions of higher learning to
    step up and devote more time to teaching students about public sector
    financial management. "The general feeling within commerce departments is that
    it's all about your private sector. SAICA is our god," Siddle said. During
    question time, a member of the audience voiced frustration. "What is the point
    of all this detailed audit," he asked, in a country hollowed out by State
    Capture and endemic corruption? Van Schalkwyk responded that the 2018 audit
    outcomes "point directly to what happened in State Capture". He said that
    everything former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan had told the Zondo
    Commission in recent days could be correlated with the audit findings. "As
    auditors, we knew things were going wrong," he said. "What stopped anything
    happening was political will." DM
    0 min
  • Days from summit, May takes Brexit battle to Brussels
    Days from summit, May takes Brexit battle to Brussels. by Dave Clark
    The British prime minister will enjoy afternoon tea with the president of the
    EU commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, with negotiations set to continue right up
    to Sunday's planned deal-signing summit. Neither side has much wiggle room
    left to polish the withdrawal treaty nor the political declaration on future
    relations that goes alongside it, but May must show that she has left nothing
    on the table if she is to convince British MPs to ratify the deal. And she now
    appears to have bought herself time to focus on negotiations in Brussels,
    after a leadership challenge from anti-European members of her own party
    fizzled out, at least temporarily, without a confidence vote. She nevertheless
    still faces pressure from her Northern Irish parliamentary allies, who oppose
    a deal they say weakens British sovereignty in their province, and from Spain,
    which warned it might veto the accord over the issue of Gibraltar. European
    Union leaders will meet on Sunday to approve both the outline declaration on
    future post-Brexit ties and the withdrawal agreement struck last week, hoping
    finally to put an end to the uncertainty over Britain's exit in March. But
    political challenges remain on both sides of the Channel. Two of May's top
    ministers quit last week over the divorce deal, including her Brexit
    secretary, while MPs from all parties came out against it. A leadership
    challenge by May's own Conservative MPs failed to materialise, however, and
    when she gathered her new-look cabinet Tuesday they agreed to press on. The
    withdrawal deal covers Britain's financial settlement, expatriate citizens'
    rights, contingency plans to keep open the Irish border and the terms of a
    post-Brexit transition. Officials are now racing to agree details of the
    accompanying outline statement on the future trading and security relationship
    for after Britain leaves the EU's single market and customs union. European
    ministers have signed off on the draft divorce terms, but the agreement now
    risks being derailed by opposition in Madrid. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of
    Spain, which has a long-standing claim on the British territory of Gibraltar,
    warned he would "vote no to Brexit unless there are changes" to guarantee
    Madrid a say in future relations between it and the EU. Spain wants the right
    to negotiate the future of Gibraltar with Britain on a bilateral basis. -
    'Show our displeasure' - Opposition to the agreement is also building in the
    House of Commons in London, which will vote on the final Brexit deal, probably
    early next month. On Monday MPs from Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist
    Party (DUP) abstained on three budget votes in the Commons and voted against
    the government on a fourth, in apparent defiance of their deal to back the
    Conservatives on finance matters. Pro-Brexit Conservatives have also savaged
    the divorce deal, which they say keeps Britain too close to the EU. Rebels led
    by MP Jacob Rees-Mogg failed in their attempt to force an immediate confidence
    vote in May's leadership, but warned they would keep trying. He said May had
    taken "a deliberate decision not to deliver a proper Brexit". Their opposition
    raises the risk of the deal failing and Britain ending its four-decade
    membership of the EU with no other arrangement in place. - Bank of England
    backing - Despite the opposition, May has continued to defend her deal in
    meetings with politicians, business leaders and party members. The withdrawal
    agreement sets out plans for a 21-month transition after Brexit, in which
    Britain and the EU want to turn their outline agreement on the future
    relationship into a full trade deal. But controversially, it says that if that
    deal is not agreed in time, Britain will adopt a "backstop" arrangement to
    keep open its land border with Ireland. This would keep all of Britain in the
    EU's customs union, and Northern Ireland also in parts of the single market.
    DM
    0 min
  • Corporate finance activity of the week
    Corporate finance activity of the week. Tiger Brands to unbundle stake in Oceana
    The company has decided to pursue an unbundling of its entire stake in Oceana.
    The decision was taken following a review of Ocean's fit with the group's core
    business undertakings. The approximate implementation date of the unbundling
    is April 2019.
    Mondi to simplify group structure
    Mondi Plc and Mondi Ltd have announced a proposed restructure of the group
    from the current dual listed company structure into a single holding company
    structure under Mondi Plc. Mondi Plc will continue to have a primary listing
    on the LSE and will have an inward secondary listing on the JSE. Further
    details will be announced in due course.
    Argent Industrial repurchases shares
    Argent has repurchased 1,069,367 shares representing 1.12% of the company's
    issued share capital. The shares were acquired at a share price of between
    3.15 rand and 4.75 rand per share. The total amount paid for the shares was 4,2 rand
    million.
    Long4Life repurchases shares
    Long4Life has repurchased 27,710,396 shares representing 3% of the company's
    issued share capital. The shares were acquired at an average share price of
    4.39 rand per share. The total amount paid for the shares was 121,7 rand million.
    Reinet Investments commences share repurchase programme
    Reinet intends to purchase shares at market prices for an aggregate maximum
    amount of "55 million subject to a maximum of 3,2 million shares over a period
    commencing on November 20, 2018 to March 15, 2019. Shares repurchased under
    the programme may be used as consideration for acquisitions.
    South32 repurchases shares
    The company this week repurchased a further 2,402,072 shares for A$8 million
    (81,66 rand million).
    Hammerson plc repurchases shares
    This week the company repurchased 1,183,188 shares at a cost of 5 million
    (89,54 rand million) as part of a share buyback programme for its ordinary shares
    to return realised disposal proceeds to shareholders over the next 12 months.
    The maximum aggregate consideration under the programme will be "300 million
    up to a maximum of 79,422,719 ordinary shares.
    Glencore repurchase shares
    This week the company repurchased a further 16,250,000 shares at a cost of
    48,47 million (867,64 rand million) in terms of its buy-back programme.
    Sandown Capital to change name
    Sandown Capital has received shareholder approval to change its name to
    Zarclear. The resolution to amend the company's name will be lodged with the
    Companies Intellectual Property Commission for registration.
    BHP Billiton to trade under new name
    Following shareholder approval, BHP Billiton Ltd and BHP Billiton Plc have
    changed their names to BHP Group Ltd and BHP Group Plc respectively. Trading
    under the new name commence on November 23, 2018.
    Six companies issued a profit warning announcement
    The following companies issued profit warnings this week: Netcare, Taste,
    Niveus Investments, Tsogo Sun, Pepkor and Nictus.
    Seven companies either issued, renewed or withdrew cautionaries
    The following companies advised shareholders: CSG, Group Five, Trustco Group,
    Gold Brands Investment, Transcend Residential Property Fund, Invicta and
    Ingenuity Property Investments.
    DealMakers is SA's M &A publication.
    www.dealmakers.co.za
    Follow @DealMakers
    ...back to DealMakers
    0 min
  • Who’s doing what this week in the South African M&A; space?
    Who’s doing what this week in the South African M&A; space? Exchange Listed Companies
    Barloworld has proposed a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment transaction that will see the company sell a property portfolio to Main Street 1646, a black-owned and controlled company for a discounted 2,77 rand billion. The beneficiaries of this transaction will include the Khula Sizwe Management Trust, Khula Sizwe Employee Trust and the black public. Barloworld intends to allocate a 30% stake of the transaction for the black public. The deal will be funded through debt (2.2 rand billion) and equity (544 rand million). In addition, Barloworld will create a broad-based foundation which will focus on poverty alleviation, education and youth development. The foundation will be issued with 6,578,121 shares (3% of the company's share capital), at 0.05 rand per share, a 99.96% discount to the 30 day VWAP per share on November 15, 2018. Foundation shareholding evergreen and Propco empowerment period is 15 years.
    RMB Holdings via its subsidiary RMH Property, has entered into a joint venture with Atterbury Europe in Bucharest to develop a new hub for business, entertainment, retail and residential living. The company has invested 698 rand million of equity capital into Atterbury Bucharest with a further 1,8 rand billion committed for deployment in 2019.
    Transaction Capital has disclosed that SANTACO has acquired a 25% stake in the company's subsidiary SA Taxi valued at 1,7 rand billion. Of this R1,2bn will be funded jointly by Standard Bank and Futuregrowth Asset Management with remainder facilitated by SA Taxi in the form of a vendor funding.
    Spear REIT has announced the acquisition of a 30% stake in Northgate Island situated in Brooklyn Cape Town from Trematon Capital Investments' 60% held subsidiary Aria Property Group and various Trusts and individuals. The acquisition price is 313 rand million, of which 156 rand million is payable by Trematon Capital.
    Dis-Chem Pharmacies has received Competition Tribunal approval to acquire Quenets, a pharmaceutical wholesaler located in the Western Cape, and Brandwatch, a marking company servicing marketing activities related to the wholesale of products by Quenets.
    Tiso Blackstar via its subsidiary Hirt& Carter has acquired First Impression Labels from the Cumming Family Trust for 190 rand million, payable in two tranches.
    Sibanye-Stillwater and Lonmin have received Competition Tribunal approval for the merger. As part of its consent, the Tribunal imposed a six month moratorium on retrenchments at the Lonmin operations. This is in addition to the conditions agreed with the Competition Commission announced in September 2018. The transaction remains subject to approval by Sibanye and Lonmin shareholders.
    Unlisted Companies
    Seacom , a pan-African telecommunications service provider, has announced the acquisition of FibreCo Telecommunications which owns and operates a national open access dark fibre network providing infrastructure, connectivity and services across SA. Financial details of the deal were undisclosed.
    Jupiter , a UK-based fresh produce grower and trader, has acquired a majority stake in South African fruit suppliers Bonaire. Bonaire farms over 800 hectares of citrus which will immediately be increased to 1,200 hectares with the introduction of new varieties of fruit.
    Sureswipe , a South African card payment service provider, has acquired a 50.1% majority stake in Humble Till, a point of sale software company. Humble Till is a cloud-based point of sale system that works on a variety of platforms such as Apple's iOS, Android and the web, making it easy and affordable for SMEs.
    Stonewood Alchemy Real Estate , a privately-owned South African property investment and development company, has together with local investors and US-based EastSide Investment Partners, acquired 16 extended stay-type American hotels in Texas and Oklahoma. The deal, worth 1,2 rand billion includes the rights to build five additional hotels.
    Nodus Equity and New Seasons Investment Holdings , two private equity players have merged to form a new 51% black owned investment fund - New Seasons Investment Fund.
    DealMakers is SA's M &A publication.
    www.dealmakers.co.za
    Follow @DealMakers
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  • Who’s doing what in the African M&A; space?
    Who’s doing what in the African M&A; space? DealMakers AFRICA
    Indorama Ventures a leading producer in the intermediate petrochemicals industry and a global manufacturer of wool yarns headquartered in Bangkok, has acquired a 74% stake in Medco Plast. The stake in the Egyptian company was acquired from Middle East Glass Manufacturing and the Samaha family. Medco Plast manufactures recyclable Pet preforms, injection moulded products and closures to multinational soft drink and water manufacturers in Egypt.
    Botswana Diamonds , the ASX-listed diamond exploration and project development company that holds exploration licences in Botswana and South Africa, has acquired the remaining 50% stake in joint venture Sunland Minerals from Russian diamond miner Alrosa. The company also announced it was in talks with a potential new investor to take a 50% stake of Sutherland.
    Metal Tiger and MOD Resources , have established an new joint venture, Tshukudu Exploration, which is 70% and 30% held respectively. Metal Tiger has transferred eight of the 18 exploration licences in T3 project to Tshukudu with the remaining licences to be held in a Trust pending a receipt of the requisite approval in Botswana. Following the transaction Metal Tiger holds 31.1 million shares in MOD Resources representing a 12.5% stake.
    Trace , a French media group, has acquired an undisclosed stake in Senegalese mobile classified platform CoinAfrique. The start-up has developed a mobile marketplace for French-speaking Africans with operations in 15 countries across francophone Africa.
    International Finance Corporation and TLcom Capital the pan-African venture capital firm, have invested $10 million in Kenyan start-up Twiga Foods. The start-up uses a mobile platform to match supply and demand, aggregating market participants and finding buyers for farmers' produce in a highly fragmented fruit and vegetable market. Twiga will use the new investment to expand operations and offer new services.
    Rolaco EGB Investment , has acquired on the open market a 6.61% stake in Crdit Agricole Egypt, a subsidiary of the Crdit Agricole Group, a market leader in Universal Customer-Focused Banking in France and one of the largest banks worldwide.
    ECP , a pan-African private equity investor, has announced the final close of its fourth pan-African fund, ECP Africa Fund IV raising $640 million. The fund focusses on minority stakes in four core sectors: financial services, consumer goods, telecommunications & ICT and infrastructure & logistics.
    DealMakers AFRICA is Africa's M &A publication.
    www.dealmakersafrica.com
    Follow @DealMakers
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  • Tiger grits its teeth after tough year
    Tiger grits its teeth after tough year. Despite the listeriosis outbreak contributing to a slide in earnings, the
    group has maintained its dividend due to the strength of its balance sheet.
    Tiger Brands has had a tough year. While it faces a tough environment for fast
    moving consumer goods, it's also had to deal with the listeriosis outbreak of
    late last year and early this year, which resulted in the recall of
    potentially affected products, the suspension of operations at its Value Added
    Meat Products (VAMP) facilities and the threat of lawsuits. Nevertheless, the
    group has maintained its full-year dividend at last year's level.
    The branded food producer says it faced rising input costs in the latter part
    of the year as the rand weakened significantly. However, manufacturers were
    forced to absorb some of these costs to minimise consumer inflation and
    maximise volumes. It said the increase in VAT and further increases in the
    cost of transport and essential services weakened consumer demand in all
    categories except maize, where increased supply and price deflation stimulated
    demand. While the suspension at VAMP contributed to a 4% decline in volumes,
    so too did Groceries and Home and Personal Care. This was partially offset by
    volume and market share growth in Grains.
    Revenue declined by 9% to 28.5 rand billion in the year to end-September, with
    revenue from its Food business dropping 52% to 1.1 rand billion after it had to
    recall products and cease production following last year's outbreak of
    listeriosis. Operating income fell 28% to 3.3 rand billion and headline earnings
    per share declined by 26% to 1,587c per share. It's maintained its dividend at
    1,080c after reducing its dividend cover to 1.75 times. It said this took its
    strong balance sheet into account, as well as the once-off impact of the
    cessation of operations at VAMP.
    Abnormal losses of 422 rand million for the year include the significant impact of
    the VAMP product recall in the current year of 380 rand million after insurance
    recoveries. Excluding VAMP's trading results and the product recall costs from
    the current and prior year, HEPS from continuing operations declined by 11% to
    1,881c.
    Tiger said following a strategic review it decided to unbundle its 42% stake
    in Oceana Group as it didn't fit with the group's core business.
    Areas of focus in 2019 will include embedding the new operating model and
    implementation of the group's Africa strategy," the person who said it here
    which is red "We are confident that the strategy will unlock the full
    potential of Tiger Brands and create value for all stakeholders."
    Tiger's shares closed 4.8% higher at 284 rand yesterday. Oceana slipped 2.5% to
    79.37 rand.
    > $JSETBS Tigerbrands. Inverted head and shoulders forming. 285 break opens
    306 & 326 targets. Go get 'em tiger ! pic.twitter.com/wZcNgaVOhJ
    >
    > -- Share_Trader (@KoosKanmar) November 22, 2018
    > UPDATE 1-South Africa's Tiger Brands to spin off 42 pct stake in...
    https://t.co/GPmvzKbdyH
    >
    > -- Jagdeep Jiandani (@jjiandani) November 22, 2018
    0 min
  • Mr Price steals a march on competitors
    Mr Price steals a march on competitors. The retailer says independent research confirms that consumers' perception of
    its quality and fashion has improved relative to its competitors.
    Mr Price says market share gains helped it grow earnings by close to 12% in a
    tough retail environment.
    Releasing half-year results yesterday, the retail group said independent
    research confirmed that consumers' perception of its quality and fashion had
    improved relative to its competitors and that its price positioning had been
    further entrenched. Sales growth in its apparel and homeware segments were
    ahead of the market for the period, which it says is a positive indication of
    market shares gains. Chief financial officer Mark Blair said: "To deliver
    double-digit earnings and dividend growths in a tough economic and retail
    environment is a pleasing result."
    Total revenue rose 7.8% in the 26 weeks to 29 September, with retail sales
    growth of 6.6% to 9.7 rand billion. It grew income from financial services and
    cellular by 24.7% to 801 rand million. Operating profit from its apparel segment
    rose 11.2%, while homeware grew operating profit by 13.8% as its operating
    margin improved to 14.3% from 13.4%. Headline earnings per share increased by
    11.6% to 494.3c and it's raised its interim dividend by the same margin to
    311.4c per share.
    Declining GDP growth in South Africa and rising fiscal challenges, as noted in
    the most recent medium-term budget speech, points to further challenging
    trading conditions ahead for South African retailers," Blair said. "Despite
    this, we remain confident that our fashion value business model is well
    positioned to capture further market share."
    Its shares rose 6.1% yesterday to close at 251.50 rand.
    > Mr price good result earnings up 12%
    >
    > -- Wayne McCurrie (@WayneMcCurrie) November 22, 2018
    > My yesterdays #mystockpick for the day is $MRP The retail environment is
    currenntly highly competitive but Mr Price continues to provide value to
    investors and consumers. #FNB . #DELAYED post
    >
    > -- HappinessIsMe (@Fez_Mbatha) November 22, 2018
    0 min
  • Capitec wins bid for Mercantile
    Capitec wins bid for Mercantile. Buying Mercantile would remove the need to reinvent and create new systems and
    processes from scratch, fast-tracking its broader bank strategy.
    Capitec has won its 3.2 rand billion bid to buy Mercantile Bank from Portuguese
    lender Caixa Geral de Depositos as it enters business banking.
    Capitec was one of a number of interested parties to submit offers to the
    Portuguese state-owned bank. Mercantile confirmed it had received a total of
    18 offers, including Capitec, Nedbank and a consortium led by the Public
    Investment Corporation. When Capitec indicated it was interested in making an
    offer in June, the price tag was speculated to be in the region of R5 billion.
    Caixa put Mercantile up for sale as it divested of non-core operations in
    order to meet European capital requirements.
    Capitec said it made the offer after a detailed due diligence on Mercantile's
    operations and that the final price would be adjusted for any change in its
    net asset value from 30 April 2018 to the completion date of the transaction.
    It will fund the deal from capital and cash reserves.
    It said there were many opportunities in the market to serve small-to-medium
    enterprises and owner-managed businesses better. Buying Mercantile would
    remove the need to reinvent and create new systems and processes from scratch,
    fast-tracking its broader bank strategy. Mercantile's customers include about
    12 000 entrepreneurs.
    Mercantile's core business offer is business banking for small- to medium-
    sized enterprises and entrepreneurs and it is therefore well positioned to
    align with Capitec Bank's business banking strategy," Capitec said.
    Capitec's shares ended trade 0.9% lower at 1,090 rand.
    > Capitec Bank to enter business banking space with the acquisition of
    Mercantile Bank. pic.twitter.com/hIJxusB2vq
    >
    > -- Property Guy (@Thakhani_R) November 22, 2018
    > This is huge!!! Capitec Bank has bought Mercantile bank. Meaning it has
    formally entered the business banking arena.
    >
    > Cant wait to see what they plan on doing with Mercantile Bank. They have
    BEEN disrupting the banking game.
    >
    > -- Visoni (@visoni) November 22, 2018
    0 min
  • Thorts - Delivering equity financing solutions to SA
    Thorts - Delivering equity financing solutions to SA. Delivering equity financing solutions to SA's renewable energy sector.
    As part of the fourth round of the South African Renewable Energy Independent
    Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), Rand Merchant Bank (RMB)
    helped fund Thebe Investment Corporation's (TIC) shareholding in a portfolio
    of projects developed by BioTherm Energy (a subsidiary of the Denham Capital
    private equity firm). The portfolio of two wind and two photovoltaic (PV)
    projects is currently under construction, having reached financial close on
    the 23rd of July 2018. The total combined project value of the four projects
    is R6,5bn with a total generation capacity of 284 MW.
    RMB has tailored funding solutions for various equity partners by effectively
    managing the risks associated with the construction and operational phases, as
    well as long-term dividend volatility in the underlying projects.
    The Infrastructure Finance team, in collaboration with the Principal
    Investments team, provided a R507m project finance equity facility to TIC to
    fund 75% of its equity commitment. The financing solution enabled TIC to take
    up a 37.5% stake in each of the four energy projects and play a meaningful
    role as BioTherm Energy's BEE partner.
    With decreasing tariffs and shareholder returns in the latter rounds of the
    REIPPPP, project finance equity facilities are structured to deliver lower
    electricity tariffs and better returns for shareholders.
    Once built, the combined power generation from the four projects will provide
    sufficient clean renewable energy to power more than 182 000 homes. The
    projects include the 120 MW Golden Valley wind project near Bedford in the
    Eastern Cape, the 32 MW Excelsior wind project near Swellendam in the Western
    Cape, the 86 MW Konkoonsies II solar PV project between Pofadder and
    Onseepkans in the Northern Cape and the 45 MW Aggeneys solar PV project near
    Aggeneys in the Northern Cape. Construction on all four projects has commenced
    and will boost employment in those regions, with electricity delivery into the
    grid expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2019.
    These financings were concluded under significant time pressure, which enabled
    the equity participants to abide by all the underlying project timelines in
    order to reach financial close at the stipulated dates.
    To date, RMB has concluded a total of six separate transactions with various
    shareholders in REIPPPP and is able to provide this type of equity financing
    to BEE as well as non-BEE clients, particularly international sponsors who are
    looking to manage exchange rate risk over the 20-year power purchase agreement
    term.
    Sindisiwe Mbuli and Tebogo Mohwaduba are infrastructure finance transactors at
    Rand Merchant Bank.
    This article first appeared in DealMakers, SA's quarterly M &A publication
    DealMakers is SA's M &A publication.
    www.dealmakers.co.za
    Follow @DealMakers
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