Technology group Mustek has renewed its cautionary for the third time by informing shareholders on Friday that it was still in talks with a potential black empowerment partner to buy a stake in the group.<\/p>\n
Mustek proposed last year to buy back the shares held by empowerment firm Puno in Mustek subsidiary Brotek, to make way for a new empowerment partner at a holding level.<\/p>\n
Chief financial officer Neels Coetzee would not comment on when Mustek was likely to conclude the transaction. “These things take longer than anticipated, but our intention is to conclude the deal.” He said the transaction would be in line with the sector charter and the department of trade and industry’s empowerment codes.<\/p>\n
Mustek believes black investors hold a portion of its shares already through the open market, so the deal will be a top-up. It has been trading under cautionary since February, when it first warned shareholders that it had entered into talks with new black investors.<\/p>\n
Mustek’s offer to buy out Puno resulted in an ugly spat with the empowerment firm, which bought a 30 percent stake in Brotek in 2005. Brotek supplies office equipment.<\/p>\n
Puno accused Mustek of questioning its black shareholding. Mustek in turn accused Puno of breaching the loan agreement by failing to supply a certificate proving that the majority of its shareholding was black and that its beneficiaries were historically disadvantaged.<\/p>\n
Puno bought its 3 417 shares in Brotek for R21 million, which was borrowed from Mustek.<\/p>\n
In May a court ruled in favour of Mustek, which then paid Puno R2.5 million after deducting legal fees and its loan plus interest.<\/p>\n
In the six months to last December Mustek’s headline earnings a share fell to 23.91c from 41.09c in the previous period. The decline resulted from several factors, including losses at Brazilian subsidiary Mecer Digital Do Brazil, which has since been sold.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Mustek’s share price gained 1.72 percent to R2.95, for a market capitalisation of R326 million.<\/p>\n
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