The decision to increase its holding in Datatec to 20% in May meant the Public Investment Corporation was one of the biggest gainers from Tuesday’s Datatec share price surge. The IT company announced the sale of its Westcon Americas business in a shares-and-cash deal worth about R10.2bn — or 85% of its market cap. US Fortune 500 IT company Synnex will pay a maximum of $800m, of which $500m will be settled in Synnex shares, giving Datatec a 10.25% share. Synnex has also agreed to buy up to 20% of the remaining Westcon business, Westcon International, for $60m. News of the Westcon Americas sale initially drove Datatec shares 26% higher, but the stock sold off during the day to close 10.5% higher. Westcon deals in technology distribution and is Datatec’s biggest revenue spinner but has been a drag on earnings of late. Its contribution to profit fell to 40% in the year to February, from 52% in 2016. The CEO of Datatec, Jens Montanana, said his group had spent about four years reposition...
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