Shoprite I get you best rate
Zambia: What could possibly go wrong, eh? Stable political system, packed to the gills with resources and a friendly well-educated populace. Aaaaaangghhh! Wrong! Further light on the Shoprite sale saga in the country formerly known as Northern Rhodesha: Shoprite is suing certain of its Zambian shareholders in order to reverse the purchase of shares now worth more than R302million. And lest you naively thought that shares could be bought and sold willy-nilly, not all transactions are created equal. This one, for instance, was the sale of shares by a company rep at a discount, to Zambian shareholders. And not the sort that offer you emeralds for dollars in the market, either, no sirree, we’re talking the local pension funds of businesses like Standard Chartered, Standard Bank, Sandvik and SABMiller, to name just the ones beginning with the letter S. Shoprite are reputedly offering repurchase at a discount of 25%; the shareholders in question, are perhaps understandably not budging.
Comment: There is a wariness in certain geographies of South African companies bearing expansion plans, of which this imbroglio is perhaps a nuanced and complicated expression (that ought to confuse ‘em – Ed).