Star 2021-12-17

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za STEINHOFF International Holdings said it had reached agreement with Tekkie Town and Trevo Capital, two parties that had formerly opposed the global retail group’s R25 billion settlement proposals. Steinoff, whose retail businesses include Pepkor Holdings, Mattress Firm and Greenlit Brands Group, hopes to settle some R136bn in legal claims against it which will allow it to focus on debt of about R151bn, and continue its recovery, since the accounting fraud in 2017 that led to losses of more than R200bn. The group said on Wednesday that it had received “overwhelming support” from the three classes of creditors in meetings held in September for the settlement proposals. Steinhoff said Trevo Capital, which had opposed the proposals, announced on Wednesday that it supported the proposal, subject to certain conditions.…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za CONSUMERS could continue to pay steep prices for goods into the new year if the upswing trend in global inflation is not transitory and continues to cause major upside risks to global food prices. According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the headline consumer inflation rose faster than expected in November, accelerating to its highest in more than four-and-a-half years. Stats SA said on Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) rose from 5 percent in October to 5.5 percent year-on-year in November, driven by record fuel prices. This was the biggest increase in the annual consumer inflation since March 2017, when the rate was 6.1 percent. The transport category continued to be the major factor behind inflation, recording an annual increase of 15 percent in November…

Move will remove barriers and increase SA’s energy availability factor Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za SOUTH Africa’s reform agenda has been given a significant boost as the government announced plans to allow and support more private sector players in the country’s electricity generation. Eskom has decided to auction 36 000 hectares of land around its ageing coal-fired power plants to independent renewable energy producers, capped at 100MW for a minimum period of 20 years. This is a move that could unlock billions of rand in new investment and add a potential 2 000MW of electricity to the grid. The power utility said yesterday that the process to make some of the land in its soon-to-be retired power stations available to private investors had already been initiated. It said the land in…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za ESKOM could miss the December 31 deadline to operationalise its new transmission company in spite of having achieved functional separation of its business. The power utility said on Wednesday that certain dependencies outside of its control might delay the process which is expected to open up the space to allow the participation of more independent power producers. Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter said the functional separation of Eskom into three entities – generation, transmission, distribution – had been achieved, with support staff now relinked to operations. De Ruyter said divisional boards had been put in place, while a new legal entity – the National Transmission South Africa – had also been registered.However, the utility was still waiting for a transmission licence to be granted by the…

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za AUSTRALIA-BASED asset management company 360 Capital Group has put in a third offer to acquire Irongate Group, formerly Investec Australia Property Fund (IAP), despite IAP management’s misgivings about their earlier offers. IAP said in a statement on Wednesday morning that it had received a revised non-binding proposal from 360 Capital Group and 360 Capital Reit to acquire, by way of a trust scheme, all of the securities in IAP which 360 Capital does not already own, for A$1.72 (R19.83) cash per security. It said the new offer reflected a 7.2 percent increase from the original indicative proposal, first made on October 15. The second offer, made last month, represented an increase of only 3.1 percent on the original offer which IAP’s management had rejected, as they said…

Given Majola given.majola@inl.co.za THE long-term effects of Covid-19 and its lockdowns had the biggest impact on the fuel retailing industry this year with volumes dropping by 80 percent, forcing many fuel station operators to plead for rental relief from landlords and bank holidays with very little or no support from the government, says Fuel Retail Association (FRA) chief executive Reggie Sibiya. He said on top of that came the July 2021 riots and looting, which saw the sector losing more than R300 million. “The combined Covid-19 and looting cost the industry billions of rand in both revenue and tax collection through the fuel levy and the Road Accident Fund,” Sibiya said. According to the FRA, fuel retailing will never be the same again. “Specifically for the fuel sector is…