There are two people at Absa who are arguably the most important. One is CE Steve Booysen. He has the job of running the country’s largest retail bank while also keeping staff, customers and shareholders happy.
The other is Tokyo Sexwale, the leader of the Batho Bonke consortium, Absa’s empowerment partner. Batho Bonke is buying 10% of Absa — worth R2,7billion when the deal was announced — over a three-year period between 2004 and 2007.
Empowerment is a big deal in a democratic South Africa. Without a successful black economic empowerment strategy, no South African entity, corporate, non-government or otherwise, can hope to succeed.
So the leader of an empowerment consortium is an important person. In Absa’s case, he is one of the top two people, in terms of importance to Absa’s shareholders.
Booysen joined Absa when it was still Trust Bank in 1988. Sexwale is a relative newcomer, having joined the Absa board in 2001, three years prior to the unveiling of Batho Bonke last year.
Booysen, as CE, is paid well. He earns a basic salary of R2,3million plus R6,4million as a performance bonus, so R8,7million in total.
Sexwale, who sits on a number of Absa boards, earned director fees of R190 000 for the year.
But here they start to part company. Booysen has built up an equity stake, through share options of R11million. These are in the money, that is, they are above the price at which they were issued.
Sexwale also has options in the form of 2,7million preference shares issued to him as the lead participant in the Batho Bonke consortium. These shares can be exercised between July 2007 and July 2009. Their value at this week’s price of R86,40 is R72million.
This suggests that non-executive Sexwale has six or seven times the value to the Absa shareholder than Booysen. It seems that either Sexwale is overpriced or Booysen is underpriced.
But Sexwale is part of a packaged deal. He brings with him two other co-leaders of Batho Bonke, Leslie Maasdorp and Nthobi Angel, whose shares are currently worth a shade less than Sexwale’s at R67million each.
Add in two other Absa non-executives, also Batho Bonke members, Franklin Sonn and Peter Swartz, who have Absa stakes worth R13,4million each. These two are listed in Absa’s annual report as independent directors and both hold equity of greater present value than the CE.
Add another Absa director — there are 21 in all — and Batho Bonke member Danisa Baloyi to the list at R2,6million, and Booysen’s R11million seems dwarfed by the R235million stake his six Batho Bonke directors have built for themselves in the bank.
None of the six have executive positions at Absa, but they collectively earned fees of R1,05million for being directors last year.
Booysen and eight other executive directors had, on August 18 this year, R44,9million in share options issued to them. Most are members of Absa’s executive committee.
Booysen received 180 000 options with a value of R16,5million. The options were issued at R91,70 and mature in three to five years. At the share price this week of R86,40, they are below their issue price. Other beneficiaries are finance director Jacques Schandehutte with R2,7million and Louis van Zeuner with R5,5million. Peter Mageza, head of Africa and asset finance, receives R4million, while Israel Skosana and Robert Emslie get R2,7million each.
Mvelaphanda, meanwhile, has reportedly doubled its stake in Absa. At the end of September, it paid R461million in cash and shares for 24,7% of Batho Bonke and raised its stake in Absa to 4,5%. The shares were bought from consortium members and not on the open market.
This raises the question of what happens to the broad-based nature of a consortium if, at the time of exercising the options, the proportion of benefit has been compromised.
Mvelaphanda deputy CEO Yolanda Cuba did not respond to an e-mailed query or telephone messages.Kevin Davie and Thebe Mabanga
There are two people at Absa who are arguably the most important. One is CE Steve Booysen. He has the job of running the country’s largest retail bank while also keeping staff, customers and shareholders happy.
The other is Tokyo Sexwale, the leader of the Batho Bonke consortium, Absa’s empowerment partner. Batho Bonke is buying 10% of Absa — worth R2,7billion when the deal was announced — over a three-year period between 2004 and 2007.
Empowerment is a big deal in a democratic South Africa. Without a successful black economic empowerment strategy, no South African entity, corporate, non-government or otherwise, can hope to succeed.
So the leader of an empowerment consortium is an important person. In Absa’s case, he is one of the top two people, in terms of importance to Absa’s shareholders.
Booysen joined Absa when it was still Trust Bank in 1988. Sexwale is a relative newcomer, having joined the Absa board in 2001, three years prior to the unveiling of Batho Bonke last year.
Booysen, as CE, is paid well. He earns a basic salary of R2,3million plus R6,4million as a performance bonus, so R8,7million in total.
Sexwale, who sits on a number of Absa boards, earned director fees of R190 000 for the year.
But here they start to part company. Booysen has built up an equity stake, through share options of R11million. These are in the money, that is, they are above the price at which they were issued.
Sexwale also has options in the form of 2,7million preference shares issued to him as the lead participant in the Batho Bonke consortium. These shares can be exercised between July 2007 and July 2009. Their value at this week’s price of R86,40 is R72million.
This suggests that non-executive Sexwale has six or seven times the value to the Absa shareholder than Booysen. It seems that either Sexwale is overpriced or Booysen is underpriced.
But Sexwale is part of a packaged deal. He brings with him two other co-leaders of Batho Bonke, Leslie Maasdorp and Nthobi Angel, whose shares are currently worth a shade less than Sexwale’s at R67million each.
Add in two other Absa non-executives, also Batho Bonke members, Franklin Sonn and Peter Swartz, who have Absa stakes worth R13,4million each. These two are listed in Absa’s annual report as independent directors and both hold equity of greater present value than the CE.
Add another Absa director — there are 21 in all — and Batho Bonke member Danisa Baloyi to the list at R2,6million, and Booysen’s R11million seems dwarfed by the R235million stake his six Batho Bonke directors have built for themselves in the bank.
None of the six have executive positions at Absa, but they collectively earned fees of R1,05million for being directors last year.
Booysen and eight other executive directors had, on August 18 this year, R44,9million in share options issued to them. Most are members of Absa’s executive committee.
Booysen received 180 000 options with a value of R16,5million. The options were issued at R91,70 and mature in three to five years. At the share price this week of R86,40, they are below their issue price. Other beneficiaries are finance director Jacques Schandehutte with R2,7million and Louis van Zeuner with R5,5million. Peter Mageza, head of Africa and asset finance, receives R4million, while Israel Skosana and Robert Emslie get R2,7million each.
Mvelaphanda, meanwhile, has reportedly doubled its stake in Absa. At the end of September, it paid R461million in cash and shares for 24,7% of Batho Bonke and raised its stake in Absa to 4,5%. The shares were bought from consortium members and not on the open market.
This raises the question of what happens to the broad-based nature of a consortium if, at the time of exercising the options, the proportion of benefit has been compromised.
Mvelaphanda deputy CEO Yolanda Cuba did not respond to an e-mailed query or telephone messages.