An injection of funds from the US has once again pulled fast-food specialist Taste Holdings back from the brink of bankruptcy as shareholders voted on Friday to approve a R132m rights offer. This is the latest in a series of rights offers that the cash-strapped company, which operates US-based Domino's Pizza and Starbucks Coffee in Africa (but with Starbucks shops only in SA at present), has used since 2014 to raise about R936m. New York investment outfit Riskowitz Value Fund (RVF), which holds 66% of Taste's stock, demonstrated its faith in Taste by recapitalising it once more. In November Taste said it had concluded a separate R50m loan facility with RVF, which could be increased to R200m in terms of the agreement. In theory, this means Taste has R332m on hand. Even with this latest round of funding, Taste is likely to survive only for another 12 to 14 months if nothing changes in its business model and the operating environment, said independent analyst Anthony Clark. Taste was n...
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