LOANS TO MANAGEMENT
Brait team ‘will not fly the coop’ on R1.9bn liability
Christopher Seabrooke, chairman of Brait’s audit committee, is adamant that the investment company’s management is sticking around to get growth in net asset value and in the share price back on track. His comments follow murmurings by analysts that Brait’s investment team would be tempted to fly the coop as a result of a R1.9bn liability connected to loans extended to them to buy shares worth R1.5bn in the company in 2011. "None of them are walking away, they can all see the green shoots and the upside. We’re feeling very positive," he told Business Day on Tuesday. The shares were pledged to Brait as collateral for a R1.2bn loan owing to Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank, for which Brait is standing surety. Investment team borrowers contributed R300m of their own capital as part of the transaction.
The loans, which Seabrooke said had been granted at commercial interest rates, were due on December 6 2020. "If the loans are not extended or refinanced, the loans must be repai...
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