There was a fire in the early hours of Thursday at investment bank Cazenove South Africa’s head office in Dunkeld, Johannesburg, Cazenove said in a statement.
“We are taking the situation seriously. Our concern lies with the safety of our staff and nobody has been injured. We are cooperating with authorities who are investigating the cause of the fire,” Cazenove South Africa MD Tony Lederle said in a statement.
The Cazenove trading staff have been moved to an alternative site in Midrand and business is continuing as normal, he added.
Cazenove has been involved with South African companies since the early 1950s, and established its Johannesburg office in 1972, according to the company’s website.
Cazenove South Africa is a member of the JSE Securities Exchange and is wholly owned by London-based Cazenove Group plc.
Cazenove South Africa employs 43 people, including 13 in its corporate finance team and 30 people that make up its equities team, Cazenove London spokesperson Kate Bolsolver said.
Bolsolver said the company has no estimates of what the cost of the damage is and added that it is too early to say what the cause of the fire was.
“I would be very, very surprised if there was any foul play involved with the fire,” Lederle said from a holiday destination. — I-Net Bridge