OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday 12.30pm.
DONALD GORDON, founder and chairman of Liberty Life, announced his retirement this weekend, clearing the way for a proposed merger between the firm and Standard Bank Investment Corporation (Stanbic).
Business Day reports that the retirement will herald shifts in Gordon’s control of the Liberty Group, and may allow a tie up between Liberty and Stanbic within weeks. Gordon will be honorary president of the group for life.
The share prices of Liberty and Stanbic surged on the retirement news, fuelling merger speculation. The price moves went along with cautionaries about changes at Liberty Investments, the firm through which the Gordon family exercise control over the Liberty group.
The firms called off a merger in May last year, ostensibly because of a failure to agree on share exchange ratios. Talks on these valuations are rumoured to be going on again.