South African state asset manager the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has submitted a proposal to government on converting bonds it holds in struggling state utility Eskom into equity, PIC chairperson Reuel Khoza told Reuters in an interview.
Khoza said the PIC had discussed the proposal with its main client, the Government Employees Pension Fund, and that the two were "in principle in agreement".
Khoza gave 90 billion rand ($5.17 billion) as a ballpark figure for the PIC's holdings of Eskom bonds, out of Eskom's total debt of around 450 billion rand. Eskom's debt is one of the main reasons why it is mired in financial crisis.