Photo by: Bloomberg
The Competition Tribunal has approved, without conditions, a merger between investment holding company, the Tiso Blackstar group and welded tube and pipes manufacturer Robor, which lifts Tiso Blackstar’s shareholding from 19.4% to a majority 51% stake.
Engineering News Online reported in July that the additional R29.6-million worth of shares would be settled through the issue of new Tiso Blackstar shares.
“We are buying the stake in Robor at a cyclical low and, therefore, at an attractive time in the cycle and at an attractive price. Robor has an existing and growing African footprint that will benefit from the increasing infrastructure spend taking place on the African continent.
“With a strong balance sheet and an aligned management team who will hold the remaining 49% of the shares in the company, Robor is well positioned for expansion and growth,” Tiso Blackstar said in a statement at the time.
Robor had generated a profit of R74.8-million before extraordinary items and taxation in the financial year ended September 2014, and recently completed a strategic acquisition of Tricom Structures, which designed, developed and manufactured steel structures for telecoms tower companies, cellphone operators and the power sector.
“The demand for Tricom products and solutions is growing in Africa and will add value to Robor’s capabilities in terms of providing solutions across various market segments,” the company noted.