Sasol gives green light to R21bn BEE scheme

SASOL shareholders at the weekend approved the group’s new R21-billion black empowerment scheme, Sasol Khanyisa, designed to replace the maturing Sasol Inzalo scheme and provide 25% permanent black-equity ownership of the local businesses.

Because of fluctuating oil prices, which hit Sasol’s share price, Sasol Inzalo shareholders were unable to realise a cash profit at the end of the 10year lock-up period because Sasol’s share-price appreciation was inadequate to repay the loans to set up the scheme.

At Friday’s general meeting, Inzalo shareholders asked Sasol executives to explain how Khanyisa would be less disappointing than Inzalo.

One shareholder said he had put R100 000 into Sasol Inzalo 10 years ago and had lost everything.

Other shareholders asked why they were receiving no incentive to exchange Inzalo shares for Khanyisa shares and why the Khanyisa lock-up could not be five rather than 10 years.

They also complained that although their dividends were only a few rand, they were subject to taxation. Bongani Nqwababa, the joint chief executive, said that unlike Inzalo, Khanyisa was underpinned by Sasol’s South African assets – synfuels, chemicals and gas – which were mature, cash-generative and less dependent on fluctuations in the oil price than the share price, which underpinned Inzalo.

Chief financial officer Paul Victor said Inzalo shareholders had not lost everything.

They were being offered the option to convert into Khanyisa shares and if they did they would receive 10 bonus Solbe1 shares, which were immediately tradeable on the black segment of the JSE.

Shareholders holding Solbe1 shares who elected to participate in Khanyisa could swap on a 1:1 basis, and for every 100 shares they held they would receive 35 immediately tradeable bonus Solbe1 shares.

Victor said Khanyisa would mature as soon as debt was repaid or at the end of 10 years, whichever was earlier.

Most of the debt was likely to be repaid in the first five years and the value would accumulate after that period, he said. — BDLive