Media and entertainment group Johnnic Communications (Johncom) disclosed on Monday that it hopes to be in a position soon to announce a new black empowerment stakeholder following the announcement by its controlling shareholder, Johnnic Holdings, that it plans to unbundle its 62,5% stake in Johncom.
At the same time, the group assured customers and staff that the “corporate activity” around Johnnic will not impact on Johncom or its businesses in the short term.
It was the first public comment by Johncom since the Johnnic announcement and followed a board meeting earlier on Monday to discuss the issue.
In a statement issued after the meeting, the Johncom board said it supports the restructuring proposals put forward by Johnnic and “welcomes the opportunities and challenges which will result from Johncom becoming independent from its controlling shareholder of many years”.
However, it said the unbundling raises a number of issues, not least of which will be the empowerment profile of Johncom going forward.
The Johncom board has assumed full responsibility for ensuring that appropriate black empowerment shareholding is achieved in the short term, and will be in a position to make a proposal to shareholders for their consideration in due course.
Johncom will appoint professional advisers to work with management and the board to devise this strategy.
The board will continue to focus on shareholder value creation. In this regard, it is significant that Johncom’s interim results (published last month) have shown a 727% increase at headline earnings level.
In the long term, the board believes superior returns can be generated by the ongoing implementation of this integrated entertainment and media strategy.
The board is not currently contemplating any changes to Johncom’s core businesses, management or the board, but will continue to evaluate all its businesses to ensure they are performing optimally and that they are strategic to the group’s continued growth.
“It is imperative that staff, customers and all of Johncom’s stakeholders be assured that the corporate activity around Johnnic will not impact on Johncom or its businesses in the short term,” it added. — I-Net Bridge