BAIN Capital will hand over ownership of the Edcon group to its creditors and walk away with nothing after its R25bn investment into the company nine years ago.CE Bernie Brookes said on Tuesday that the transaction would be a total loss for Bain as it would take "zero" from the change of ownership.Brookes said a four-year plan was in place that would end with a listing on the JSE."Bain has, in essence, handed over the keys of the Edcon house to its creditors. Our creditors are now our owners. Bain have managed the debt to equity with great professionalism."They could have chosen to simply put the business into rescue, but they didn’t. But ultimately what the move means is that we can become a retailer instead of a business managed by debt," Brookes said.The new owners of the company include Franklin Templeton, Harvard Pension Fund, Barclays Africa Group and FirstRand.Edcon’s capital structure will reduce the debt position from about R26.7bn to R6bn.The creditors have also committed ...
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.