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Prescient reverse lists into IT stock


Johannesburg, 21 Aug 2012

Prescient Holdings yesterday listed on the JSE through a reverse listing into PBT Group, which used to be called Prescient Business Technologies.

PBT announced the reverse takeover last October, and said it would buy Prescient Holdings, Prescient Capital, Stadia Fund Management and 75% of Greenfield Institute of Business Limited, resulting in a reverse takeover, for R1.6 billion.

In 2010, PBT became the latest ICT stock to join the bourse, after it used retail has-been Wooltru to reverse list onto the JSE. Until the end of the 1990s, Wooltru was SA's largest retailer and owned Massmart, Woolworths, CNA and Truworths. Apart from CNA, now owned by Edcon, all the other companies have separate JSE listings.

“The listing will provide us with the flexibility needed to capitalise on long-term growth opportunities in financial services, while unlocking the intrinsic value of the business,” says Prescient CEO Murray Louw.

Louw explains being a public company will help to raise its profile and introduce the brand to a wider market. “This will assist in building on our growing product offering across the financial services spectrum.”

Management and staff were the majority shareholders in Prescient Holdings, with an interest of 76.8%. The total black economic empowerment shareholding in the business was 29%, with external BEE shareholders owning 23.2% of Prescient. The BEE shareholding will stay above 25% following the listing.

Prescient launched in 1998 as an investment management company and has since expanded to have businesses in fund administration, securities trading, wealth management and retail products.

PBT started out as a Prescient unit called Prescient Business Technologies and was spun out as a separate entity towards the end of 2003. It has two subsidiaries: PBT Technology Services and PBT Infosight, and owns all of Stricklands Tetra Cape and 51% of PBT Insurance Technologies.

The listing will aid in consolidating businesses in the group.

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