MARC HASENFUSS: Firing up Brimstone
Brimstone does not need exposure to two large fishing enterprises
I remember a long (and dry) spell at Newlands cricket ground. It was 2003 and SA were playing a Test against Pakistan. A friend and I decided to pace our beverage intake to one per fallen wicket. Gibbs and Smith put on an epic stand (I think the latter got a double ton and the former 150 plus). Come close of play, we were suitably parched.
I witnessed the start of another enduring innings about eight years earlier at the same cricket ground, when empowerment group Brimstone — headed by former teacher Fred Robertson and accountant Mustaq Brey — made its pitch to community investors. The anchor investments were two fishing companies, Oceana and Sea Harvest. These holdings remain significant. Along the early route, Brimstone invested in all manner of things — and when the market discounted this lack of focus, the directors took the unusual step of liquidating most of the portfolio holdings and returning practically all the capital originally invested to shareholders (150c a share...
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