File picture: Dean Hutton/Bloomberg File picture: Dean Hutton/Bloomberg
JOHANNESBURG – Sasol has abandoned a plan to sell about R13
billion ($950 million) of shares to meet its obligation to repay debt owed
by a black investor group.
A decline in the company’s stock since the mid-2014 slump in crude prices
precluded payouts to more than 250,000 black South Africans who participated in
the Inzalo transaction in 2008, forcing Sasol to settle the more than R12
billion they owe.
Sasol won’t pursue the preferred funding option announced on September 20 “of
issuing up to 43 million ordinary shares through an accelerated book-build
process” and is considering other options, it said in a statement on Monday.
“Sasol’s intention is to mitigate the amount of shareholder dilution whilst
still maintaining Sasol’s investment grade credit rating.”
South Africa
has set targets for black ownership as it seeks to redress the economic
inequalities stemming from white- minority rule under apartheid that ended in
1994. When Inzalo unwinds next year, those investors will have the option to participate
in Sasol’s next leg of empowerment, Khanyisa, which aims to take black ownership of its South African unit to 25%.
Sasol stock fell the most in 15 months after the announcement of the
replacement black investor plan and accelerated book build. Alternatives are
being sought “following extensive engagement with shareholders,” it said. The
shares climbed as much as 2.2 percent on Monday, and traded 1.5% higher at R390.97 as of 10:20 a.m. in Johannesburg.