RON DERBY: After we reach junk status, the vultures will come home to roost
Watch out for the big icebergs ahead of SA Inc
Valued at only R2-billion, private schooling group Curro is now about nine times larger than Group Five. And that for a company that was listed only in 2011. Group Five and its sector have seen better days. The extraordinary meeting to be held at the end of this month is more to do with shareholders' loss of confidence in not just the board but its fundamentals too. A handsome parting gift is an absolute necessity to satisfy clients. The battle with the board ahead of this month's meeting will make for some great reading in the weeks to come. Group Five's tale proves that unhappy investors can be quite a dangerous lot and quite destructive to the long-term value of an asset. I'm not sure that a break-up of the firm will in any way enhance its position, as you can bet the proceeds from the sale, should Allan Gray succeed in replacing the board, will flow into the hands of shareholders and not be reinvested. This is the nature of capitalism - there's nothing unusual in this when deali...
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