Guptas sell Tegeta for R2.9bn

THE GUPTAS yesterday offloaded Tegeta Exploration and Resources as the family continued to reduce their assets before the Bank of Baroda closes their accounts at the end of this month and pending a forensic investigation into their mining businesses.

The family’s investment vehicle Oakbay said in a statement that it had sold the company, including Koornfontein Mine and the Optimum Coal Terminal, to little known Swiss group Charles King for R2.9 billion.

The disposal comes just days after Oakbay said it had sold its media businesses to a company controlled by controversial former government spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi for R450 million.

Oakbay acting chief executive Ronica Ragavan said the deal would allow the family time to focus on clearing their name in the face of state capture allegations, including those from the Gupta e-mail leaks.

Ragavan said the sale represented a further step forward in Oakbay’s strategy to preserve jobs, adding that “Tegeta is a strong business and the Charles King company will be an excellent new owner”.

BEE shares Under the deal, Oakbay has stipulated that the purchaser must have a minimum of 30 percent of the shares allocated to a black empowerment partner. The company said the deal was expected to be concluded within the next 12 months.

Optimum was a subject of controversy when reports emerged that former Eskom board chairperson Ben Ngubane and ousted chief executive Brian Molefe allegedly pulled strings to pressurise Glencore into selling the company to the Gupta brothers.

Optimum was reportedly under business administration after Molefe refused to renegotiate the price of a long-term coal contract and reinstated a R2.17bn penalty on Optimum for allegedly supplying sub-standard coal.

Oakbay mines supply coal to Eskom and hold rights to almost a 10th of the export capacity of Africa’s biggest coal port.

But in a dramatic development last month, Eskom suspended its chief financial officer Anoj Singh on claims that he signed off on a more than R600m pre-payment to Tegeta to purchase Optimum.

It was not immediately clear if President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane Zuma would also be selling his stake in Tegeta.

Charles King owner Amin Al Zarooni said the company had decided to buy Tegeta as it felt that mining in South Africa remained attractive.