Star 2023-12-05

ASPEN Pharmacare Holdings has concluded agreements to acquire Sandoz (China) Pharmaceutical and its portfolio of products for up to €92.6 million (R1.88 billion), and to dispose of four anaesthetic products on sale in Europe. “The acquisition is an attractive opportunity for Aspen to take a major step to increase our presence in China. Sandoz’s portfolio, pipeline, well-established infrastructure, and experienced team, will expand Aspen’s footprint and capabilities in the world’s second-largest pharmaceutical market, and strengthen our foundation for growth in China,” said Aspen CEO Stephen Saad. Aspen said the payment of €18.5m would be contingent upon the sales performance of the pipeline products to be rolled out at Sandoz (China). Aspen did the transaction through its wholly owned subsidiary Aspen Global Incorporated (AGI), which is incorporated in Mauritius.…

ADvTECH said yesterday its CEO of 10 years, Roy Douglas, would retire and Geoff Whyte had been appointed as the successor with effect from March 1, 2024. Douglas would retire from his role on the board from February 29, 2024, but would remain with the group for a period after he leaves the board for a seamless handover, a statement said yesterday. Whyte holds a Master’s degree in economics from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and has more than 30 years’ experience across various industries. He has executive experience in global organisations including Unilever, PepsiCo, Cadbury-Schweppes, SABMiller and Nando’s, including in South Africa, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, the rest of Africa, the Middle East and sub-continental India. ADvTECH chairperson Chris Boulle said: “We are confident that Geoff’s…

NAMPAK has become the latest South African company to be afflicted by a currency crisis in the lucrative but volatile West African market of Nigeria, after it reported R1 billion in foreign exchange losses from the populous country. MultiChoice and MTN are among the other South African companies to suffer exchange rate headwinds in Nigeria. The exchange rate losses for Nampak amounted to R1bn in the year to end September, it reported yesterday. The bigger Nigerian foreign exchange rate losses brought Nampak’s total forex losses for the period to R1.2bn. At the centre of the Nigerian exchange rate losses has been a persistently weaker naira currency and a dollar shortage that has impacted a wide variety of companies. “The Nigerian losses were caused by a consistently weakening Naira in…

New policy road map to produce exclusively electric vehicles (EVs) powered by green hydrogen HE GOVERNMENT has unveiled a new and long-awaited policy road map that could see South Africa beginning to produce exclusively electric vehicles (EVs) that could be powered by green hydrogen, in the next two years, in a bid to mitigate the looming impact of global internal combustion engine bans. Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel yesterday unveiled a White Paper on Electric Vehicles and the Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy. The White Paper is the culmination of substantial research and engagement over the last number of years, and follows the publication of a Green Paper in 2021, extensive industry consultation with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), consideration of public comments, all of which helped to shape…

ELLIES Holdings said yesterday it would not require a rights issue and the terms of its acquisition of Bundu Power had been revised. Ellies announced the plan to acquire Bundu on February 1, 2023, for R207.6 million, and it planned a R120m rights issue at the time. The company and sellers of Bundu Power had now entered into an amended and restated share purchase agreement, Ellies said yesterday in a statement. Bundu Power specialises in the distribution and rental of generators as well as solar and ancillary products, providing alternative energy solutions for residential, commercial, industrial, hospitality, agricultural and recreational users. Ellies is repositioning itself as a smart infrastructure business. The acquisition would be funded via five interim R1m payments to be made to the sellers in proportion to…

The lack of a binding legal definition for greenwashing presents a hurdle to regulators tackling investment funds that exaggerate their sustainability credentials, a global securities watchdog said in a report yesterday. Trillions of dollars have flowed into funds that tout their environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, but IOSCO, which groups securities regulators from across the world, said greenwashing was already being compounded by related “malpractices”. The report based on a survey of IOSCO members to coincide with the COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai, said most jurisdictions do not specifically define greenwashing in legally binding provisions. Some regulators are already fining firms for greenwashing. Regulators face data gaps, concerns over the quality of benchmarks used to rate the ESG aspects of companies, IOSCO said. It said that planned…