It should not be understated how important the clearance of the US regulatory hurdle was for Sibanye Gold in its $2.2bn cash bid for Stillwater Mining, the only US producer of platinum group metals.Novus Holdings may have got itself into a bit of a pickle. Or perhaps it’s Media24 and Naspers that are in the pickle about the printing arrangement between Novus and Media24, which has a controlling 66% stake in Novus. There’s little doubt the shareholders at Novus knew about the contract, which accounted for about 25% of company revenue in 2016. But no shareholder, at least not the minorities, knew that this contract depended on the life of one man, Lambert Retief, formerly CEO of Novus. Or at least they didn’t until the day in January after Retief died. That was when Media24 announced, out of the blue, that Retief’s death gave it the right to terminate the agreement governing the printing contract. But when Ratings Afrika corporate governance expert Charl Kocks trawled through Novus’s ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.