A bad week for Tongaat’s Gavin Hudson
A good week
Kenya is taking a firm stand on vaccination. Concerned about slow uptake of the Covid vaccine, and amid fears of a resurgence of the virus over the holidays, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration has ordered that, as of December 21, access to in-person state services, public transport and public places such as bars, restaurants and game parks will be off-limits to the unvaxxed. As part of the drive, it will also roll out a 10-day mass inoculation campaign this week. It’s a commitment from which SA could learn a lesson or two.
A bad week
It all seemed to be going so well at Tongaat. A lifting of its suspended shares, clarity on the value of its assets, a strong sugar price, the sale of its starch business … No wonder so many punters climbed into the stock. Then, last week’s bombshell: a R4bn rights offer on a R1bn company, underwritten by Zimbabwean Hamish Rudland. It feels like CEO Gavin Hudson has pulled the trigger on a deeply discounted takeover, and swept the rug from under minorities’ feet.
* Note: this article was altered on 25 November to reflect the fact that it was Hamish Rudland, not his brother Simon Rudland, who underwrote the deal