Barloworld is a much slimmer conglomerate than it was near the end of apartheid, having given birth to companies including Illovo Sugar, Nampak, PPC, Tiger Brands and Reunert. It is celebrating 75 years on the JSE; it listed in 1941 at seven shillings and sixpence per share. It is one of nine companies to have been listed in SA this long.The former Barlow Rand, so named after buying Rand Mines in 1971, began unbundling in 1993, becoming a more streamlined Barlow Ltd in the new SA. The group became Barloworld in 2000, later spinning off some household names.Barloworld once owned the iconic Plascon paint brand, before Japanese raiders arrived and carried away Freeworld Coatings in a hostile takeover. Freeworld was spun off from Barloworld’s coatings division in 2007. The transaction was recognised as deal of the year on Wall Street in 2011, in deals valued from US$100m-$500m.Many of Barloworld’s spin-offs remain listed on the JSE, but some, like Illovo Sugar, have become the engines o...
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