Ciaran Ryan
Guest Author
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/ 27 November 2006

The shrinking of Johncom

Barney Barnato would hardly recognise what’s left of the rapidly disappearing Johannesburg Consolidated Investments (JCI), the mining empire he formed in 1889. Barnato was long gone by the time Johnnic had shape-shifted into a mining, industrial and media empire. The dismantling of the group started in 1995 with the unbundling of the mining and industrial interests.

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/ 6 November 2006

Mr Steel in pricing investigation

Eric Samson is probably South Africa’s richest resident, though you don’t hear much of him. His unlisted Macsteel Holdings business empire generates revenue of nearly R70-billion a year, roughly equivalent in size to Sasol, and supplies much of the steel used in the local industry. Macsteel, one of the 10 largest companies in South Africa, is part of a probe into steel pricing by the Competition Tribunal.

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/ 20 October 2006

You pays your money …

South Africans are about to get hit with an avalanche of pay TV options from next year — some of them delivered to your cellphone. Until now MultiChoice — which owns M-Net and DStv — has been the sole provider of subscription TV in South Africa, but that’s about to change.

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/ 29 September 2006

The bike they forgot to stop making

Royal Enfield bikes have a cult following among classic bike enthusiasts around the world, some of whom own more than 20 working models dating back to the 1930s. The bikes are now made in India where they festoon the streets and sidewalks and are the preferred mode of transport for millions of Indians.

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/ 26 September 2006

Mr Goldfinger

The last two weeks were the most expensive in Gold Fields’s history. It plonked deals worth about R25-billion on the table, in the process establishing itself as the world’s top gold mining group in terms of ounces in the ground. Recently, it unveiled a R4,7-billion investment aimed at deepening its flagship Driefontein and Kloof gold mines, giving it access to an additional 10,8-million ounces of gold.

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/ 28 August 2006

Predators eye slimmer Anglo?

There were denials all round this week that Anglo American was a potential take­over target. In a high-stakes poker game, that’s what you do: you pretend to fold before the game has really started. Anglo’s share price exploded in the past two months as rumours of a possible takeover started to circulate.