Saudis swoop on SA’s historic Barlows for R120/share; $1.3bn takeover offer

Saudi Arabia's Zahid Group and partners have bid to acquire South Africa's Barloworld Ltd. in a deal valued at R22.8 billion ($1.3 billion). Offering R120 per share, a 30% premium, the deal faces resistance from key shareholders seeking R130 per share. Zahid aims to capitalize on Africa's construction boom, with infrastructure investments projected to grow 27% by 2029. If successful, Barloworld will delist, marking a major Middle Eastern investment in Africa..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..The seventh BizNews Conference, BNC#7, is to be held in Hermanus from March 11 to 13, 2025. The 2025 BizNews Conference is designed to provide an excellent opportunity for members of the BizNews community to interact directly with the keynote speakers, old (and new) friends from previous BNC events – and to interact with members of the BizNews team. Register for BNC#7 here..By Loni Prinsloo.Saudi Arabia's Zahid Group and its local partners offered to buy out Barloworld Ltd. in a deal that values the South African construction equipment company at about 22.8 billion rand ($1.3 billion). .Zahid's Gulf Falcon Holding Ltd. and Entsha Ltd., an entity linked to Barloworld Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sewela, offered 120 rand per share, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. That's a 30% premium to Tuesday's closing price for the Johannesburg-based company, which is Africa's distributor for Caterpillar Inc. equipment. .The Saudi heavy machinery group is betting on a surge in construction activity on the continent. The industry is set to grow almost 27% by 2029 in Africa, boosted by government infrastructure investments and a stronger consumer market, according to a report from market data firm Mordor Intelligence. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that as much as 4.8 trillion rand in infrastructure investment from the state and private investors is needed to revive sluggish economic growth..Some shareholders rejected the offer as too low. Silchester International Investors, an investment manager that represents clients who control almost 18% of Barloworld's stock, said it's unwilling to agree to sell for less than 130 rand per share. ."A full privatization of Barloworld is unlikely to succeed without the support of Barloworld's primary shareholders," Silchester said. "Silchester intends to exercise all rights available to shareholders in South Africa to protect the financial interests" of its clients. .Read more: 🔒 Tongaat Hulett CEO Gavin Hudson is hopeful on Barloworld's bitter blow to R5.35bn deal.Barloworld will still pay investors the 3.10 rand dividend that the company declared last month, and they'd get the payout in addition to the 120-rand offer price, the company said in the statement. Barloworld will be delisted if the deal goes ahead. .Barloworld's shares jumped 15% to 107 rand in Johannesburg trading on Wednesday. The stock has increased 35% this year. .The Saudi group, which started buying Barloworld shares four years ago and already owns about 19% of the shares, approached the company's board in February. At that point Barloworld's shares were in decline, falling more than 25% during the previous 12 months, and the company was working to recover from a slowdown after the Covid-19 pandemic. In August, the company told investors that it was in talks that could impact its share price following a Bloomberg report on its discussions with Zahid. .Middle Eastern companies have increasingly sought investments in Africa, jockeying for influence with established players such as China and France. ACWA Power, a Riyadh-based company, has signed a memorandum of understanding to invest $10 billion in South Africa's renewable-energy industry over the next decade, while Dubai-based logistics company DP World operates nine ports on the continent..Barloworld is the official Caterpillar dealer in several African nations including Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Angola and South Africa. It also has a business in Russia that's been subject to an internal investigation into possible export violations..Read also:.Barloworld wants out of R5bn acquisition from TongaatBarloworld's Khula Sizwe public BEE offer oversubscribedIs Khula Sizwe a good investment? Expert dissects R3.5bn Barloworld B-BBEE scheme.© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Saudis swoop on SA’s historic Barlows for R120/share; $1.3bn takeover offer

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