Morvest has sold its entire stake in Mint to the Tandum Trust, representing several managers, for R10.5 million.
Morvest explains now is the "appropriate time to dispose of its shareholding at an acceptable return on its initial investment". The cash it earns from the sale will be used to "explore certain alternative opportunities in line with its diversified investment holding strategy", it says.
Mint, which Morvest completed integrating into its operations in the first half of 2009, in a process that resulted in 42 retrenchments, sold the company to Mint directors Carel du Toit, Yvonne Dias and Francois Pienaar.
According to Mint's Web site, Du Toit is the company's MD, while Dias is its shared services director, and Pienaar holds the position of services and business director.
Mint, previously known as Adcheck, was founded in 1971 and provides market intelligence-gathering and deployment of various solutions to South African corporate and multinational companies. In 2009, Mint expanded its offerings when it acquired Mint Net, which designed, implemented and supported over 40 enterprise content management solutions globally at that time.
Diversifying
The sale follows its move, earlier this month, to dispose of its stake in R and S Consulting to newly-established company Zukubu, for a maximum amount of R142 million, depending on financial performance.
Morvest says the sale to Zukubu, an investment holding company majority-owned by Pan-African Private Equity Fund, was motivated by its belief that it was a good time to sell and receive an "acceptable" return on its initial investment. The cash will go into exploring alternative opportunities.
Last month, its retail arm moved into bedding after buying some Simmons assets for R75 million through its Whoohaa subsidiary, in line with its diversification strategy.
Black-owned Morvest has operations in SA, Mozambique, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates and the US. Its operations are positioned in three key segments: business support services (including professional services and outsourcing solutions), ICT solutions, and its retail and consumer segment.
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