FOOTNOTES
HILARY JOFFE: Company break-ups are sometimes not hard to do, but are they good for you?
'Like all divorces, corporate break-ups involve cost, time and often significant pain'
Breaking Up is Hard to Do, is the title of the 1960s hit song by Neil Sedaka ("I beg of you don’t say goodbye; can’t we give our love another try....") But on the JSE these days it seems the love isn’t enough to keep some of our largest companies in one piece. Bidvest and Bidcorp broke up in June last year and have just reported their first full years as standalone listed companies. Imperial has consolidated its logistics and motor operations into two independent divisions and is deciding whether to seek separate listings for them. Then there’s Old Mutual, which is breaking up on a grand scale and across borders, splitting its four component parts and preparing to list the core two as standalone companies during 2018, one on the local JSE and the other on the London Stock Exchange. And perhaps last, but not least, there is Naspers, which seems very much in love still with its stake in China’s Tencent, but is facing growing pressure from activist investors to hive off the stake, whic...
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