The business landscape is pretty hectic these days. There is Cyril Ramaphosa, who not too long ago presided over a telecommunications and media empire stretching from Cape Town to Mussina.
Then the empire was chopped in two and now a couple of former unionists have nicked his company and its sprawling casino interests. While he was watching.
Ramaphosa this week quit as chairperson, the company now to be overseen by someone who is not asleep at the switch.
Less epic — but nonetheless fascinating — is the takeover battle for Keeromstraat 30, an entity most people have never heard of. Keeromstraat 30’s origins probably date back, at least in spirit, to the time of the rinderpest.
A journalist, whose father has some of these puppies, tells me the shares are passed down usually as an inheritance. I imagine them coming from dusty trommels at the bottom of metal beds with coir mattresses that sag in the middle. You inherit a chunk of a farm, some livestock and a slug of Keeromstraat shares.
Keeromstraat 30 was originally intended as a block of friendly shareholders in Naspers, friends, no doubt, who in times of need would keep enemies at bay. They carry astonishing voting power, 1 000 times that of an ordinary share.
Keeromstraat 30 is in the news because it is the subject of a take-over attempt. PSG’s Jannie Mouton, a businessperson not unknown for throwing a stone at a bush, was struck by the fact that Keeromstraat shares, as valued by the directors of Naspers (who double as Keeromstraat directors), was a nominal 1c.
Mouton, the leader of a take-over consortium that includes an as yet unnamed black economic empowerment entity, offered Keeromstraat 40c a share. He said in a radio interview that he did not get a reply, but in the meantime Naspers directors offered 43c each for Keeromstraat shares. Mouton then upped his offer to 50c.
Keeromstraat, of course, is not a listed entity, but I thought it would be fun to buy some shares, perhaps from one of the stockbrokers who specialise in trading non-listed shares. This is called the over-the-counter market.
I have two reasons for wanting to do this. The first is their sheer power, 1 000 times that of the boring, ordinary share bought on the JSE. The second reason was to see if this was possible. Would I have to speak Afrikaans? Would some sort of secret handshake be required? Would I have to agree to vote these shares in some special way before I could own them?
I discussed the issue over supper with my family, the agreed strategy being to use my wife’s maiden name if it appeared that being Afrikaans would definitely be a help.
The first broker I phoned could not help. It does do over-the-counter trades, but never in Keeromstraat 30. Call PSG, it said, although I doubted this would be successful as PSG is an active buyer, not seller, as it bids for control of Keeromstraat.
A trader at PSG confirmed this. They are buyers, not sellers. How much would I have to pay if I was able to track down a parcel of shares? I was told of a recent trade at 50c, 50 times the previous valuation!
Who else could I try? One of the banks is buying Keeromstraat, the dealer said, but is buying them on behalf of Naspers, so don’t even think about approaching them.
I called a third broker known for over-the-counter trading. Encouragingly, I was referred to its Cape Town office (Keeromstraat is in Cape Town). I gave the switchboard the reason for my call. My hopes were raised as I was told a person with an Afrikaans-sounding name could help me. But alas, this stockbroker never trades Keeromstraat 30. The only help they could give was to suggest the name of someone at Naspers to talk to.
The board of Keeromstraat (also that of Naspers, remember) has rejected Mouton’s offer, but he has called a full meeting of shareholders to decide the issue. You-know-who will not be there.