Buses en route to La Concorde

Shareholders of La Concorde, formerly KWV, will be getting buses to replace the brandy assets that were sold to Vivian Imerman’s Visari a year ago for R1.5bn.

Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI), the holding company for Niveus Investments, which holds 58% of La Concorde, is selling Golden Arrow to La Concorde in a complicated deal that values the bus business at R1.8bn. HCI will take shares in exchange for the bus assets, which will result in it having a 60% stake in La Concorde whose other assets include R1.2bn cash, heritage properties and valuable art work.

When the Golden Arrow acquisition is completed La Concorde, through a newly created company, Newco, will declare a dividend of up to R1.2bn. HCI will receive 60% of this dividend.

La Concorde minority shareholders did fear HCI would inject its coal assets into the company to replace the liquor operations sold to Visari.

“The bus business is better than the coal business,” said one resigned shareholder.

Golden Arrow is the major public transport bus operator in the Cape metropole.