South Africa: Imperial sells its shares
Dubai-based ports and shipping operator DP World is planning to take over the Imperial Group in South Africa. According to press releases, the parties entered into a transaction implementation agreement including a cash offer of ZAR 66 (USD 4.60) per share.
Counting all outstanding shares of Imperial, the takeover implies an estimated investment of approximately ZAR 12.7 billion (USD 890 million). This offer represents a premium of 39.5% to the Imperial share price of 7 July 2021 and a 34.2% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average price of Imperial.
Imperial’s Logistics International business is within the scope of the offer and as such will not be sold separately. The South African company, which disinvested most of its business in Europe and Latin America in February 2021 to concentrate on improving its position in Southern Africa, only recently acquired the cool chain company Deep Catch Namibia Holdings for approx. ZAR 633 million (USD 45 million).
DP World and its subsidiaries, which employ over 50,000 people worldwide, continue to invest heavily in the extension of their business lines. Over the last few years, growth was also driven by acquisitions including P&O Ferries (UK), Topaz Energy & Marine (UAE), the Continental Warehousing Corporation (India), Cosmos Agencia Maritima (Peru) and Unifeeder (Denmark), amongst others.
Currently, the group runs 136 business units in 61 countries on six continents and is interested in further expanding its logistics footprint in Africa and Europe.
The transaction is still subject to Imperial shareholder approval and other customary completion conditions, including regulatory approvals. (sh)