Bruce Whitfield
Few investors are likely to notice the disappearance of Conlog from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listings board but minority shareholders, who last year tried to have the firm liquidated, will be hoping its reemergence as Dynamic Cables SA will boost its fortunes.
Conlog bought Dynamic Cables from Cape Empowerment Trust last year and is changing its name and focus.
Conlog was effectively a cash shell after it sold off the last of its electrical subsidiaries to French-based Schneider Electrical for R88-million last year. Minority shareholder efforts to have Conlog liquidated soon after that were thwarted by a last-minute change in allegiances, which saw the company survive to alter its strategy.
It is understood that several minority shareholders chose not to take up the company’s offer to buy back their shares at 40c. Many bought into Conlog at about 1500c and have decided their only real chance to recoup their losses is to see if the newly focused firm will deliver better earnings than its predecessor did.
The listing has been shifted from the cash companies to the Development Capital Market sector. Dynamic Cables plans to position itself to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the privatisation of Telkom and the emergence of South Africa’s third cellular licence.
Sources close to the company insist the JSE-listed entity is a completely different firm from what it was a year ago. Former minister of defence Joe Modise and Armscor chair Ron Haywood are the only two directors from that time still involved with the firm.
It is unclear whether Dynamic Cables intends to become involved in military contracts. Earlier this year United States-based Quantam International Services Limited suggested the men were still very much involved in military matters. They denied they had anything to do with a decision to block the sale of old military transport aircraft to the US company.
There are plans to grow the new company’s black empowerment component so that it will be able to bid more successfully for contracts with the country’s parastatals. Cape Empowerment Trust will eventually own about 75% of the firm but is seeking more black directors.
The board has had only two changes since its last AGM. Lawyer Tony Behrman has been replaced by company secretary Ettiene de Villiers while current Dynamic Cables MD Theodore Rai also joins the board.
Dynamic Cables is a wholesale distributor of telecommunications infrastructure and cabling.