Business tycoon Zunaid Abbas Moti (pictured) is making a play for Rebosis Property Fund after dethroning the group’s founder and CEO Sisa Ngebulana as the embattled company’s largest shareholder. Moti has aggressively been buying Rebosis stock in the past few months.
In April he increased his shareholding to 9.25% – and a month later this shareholding increased to 13.49%. Last week, the debt-laden group told shareholders that Moti had increased his shareholding to 18.622%.
Ngebulana owns around 5.8% of Rebosis. Moti’s aggressive buying of Rebosis stock has raised speculation the company is ripe for a takeover, particularly after its failed merger talks with Delta Propery Fund. The tie-up between the two majority black-owned companies (Delta and Rebosis) would have created a property fund with R29-billion in assets.
The Companies Act stipulates that when a shareholder acquires 35% or more of a company’s shares they does not already own, they must make a mandatory offer to buy out minority shareholders.
Rebosis was established by the Billion Group in 2010 and on May 17 2011 became the first black-managed and substantially black-held property fund to be listed on the JSE. Makwe Masilela, chief investment officer at Makwe Fund Managers, said it was not clear what Moti’s plans for Rebosis are.
“I am not too certain as his plan to restructure and ringfence debt is not getting a buy in from the lenders and the operating environment continues to look bleak, which was exacerbated by COVID-19,” Masilela said.
He added that the problems faced by Rebosis were not a reflection of Ngebulana’s leadership or business acumen. “I don’t think it’s a reflection on him but the executive and the board, as the company is no longer a one-man show. Credit must be given to him and black excellence be celebrated as Mr Ngebulana has founded the company and got it to be listed as the first black-owned property company.”
Delta’s founding CEO, Sandile Nomvete, and the group’s CFO, Shaneel Maharaj, resigned last week, while COO Otis Tshabalala also left the group. Rebosis’s share price has plunged 96.56% in the past five years, taking its value to less than R300-million.
Delta has also endured a torrid period on the JSE with its value down 95% over the same period. The Moti Group and Rebosis did not respond to questions.
