OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Sunday 5.00pm.
GOLD mining tycoon Brett Kebble, kingpin of the powerful JCI group, has been ousted after being implicated in a multi-million rand share dealing scandal, it was reported on Sunday.
Kebble admitted using company funds without permission from fellow directors to fight off a hostile bid that threatened his R7-billion empire, the Sunday Times said.
On Saturday, Kebble, 35, resigned from four of the eight JCI companies of which he is a director, and is expected to step down from the remaining boards shortly.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange said Kebble’s action, which is being investigated by the exchange, apparently contravened the Companies Act and carries the penalty of a possible jail sentence.
It said it was also probing allegations of price manipulation and insider trading, both criminal offences.
“We don’t like what we see,” JSE president Russell Loubser said. “There is almost no doubt that this matter will be taken up with the Financial Services Board.”
The JSE’s findings will be forwarded to the board, which is the prosecuting authority.
Kebble has been the driving force behind the restructuring of the JCI group, which comprises mining concerns Randfontein Estates, Freddev, Randgold, JCI Gold, Consolidated African Mines, Barnato, Western Areas and London-listed Randgold Resources.
As part of the plan, which was aimed at reducing combined debt of the eight companies of R1.2-billion, Western Areas made an offer to sister company Randfontein’s shareholders to buy all their shares.
Randfontein, a strong cash generator, was a key component of Kebble’s strategy, the Sunday Times said.
But two weeks ago his proposals were challenged when rival mining group Harmony made a significantly higher offer for Randfontein.
In a bid to thwart Harmony, Kebble, as deputy chairman of Western Areas, facilitated a loan from Western Areas to Durban Roodepoort Deep, another mining company effectively controlled by the Kebble family.
DRD used the loan of around R100-million to buy about 10% of Randfontein in a bid to frustrate the Harmony bid.
However, the Western Areas board, on hearing of the unauthorised loan, rejected it and called in its advisers, Standard Bank and Chase Manhattan, who in turn alerted the JSE.
The shares of the eight JCI companies were suspended from trading on the JSE on Friday.
Late on Friday night, the JCI group agreed to sell its shares in Randfontein to Harmony, which upped its offer from R11 to R12.25 a share. — AFP