Local importer and distributor of automated teller machines (ATMs) Diebold SA concluded a R340 million black economic empowerment transaction yesterday.
Diebold MD Andrew Brown says 25.1% of the company was sold to investment group Dieco Investments, wholly-owned by the Diebold Staff Trust.
Brown explains the deal was concluded through the issuing of incumbent shares, financed through vendor funding.
Diebold SA is a subsidiary of Diebold Incorporated, which is headquartered in Canton, Ohio, in the US, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The local subsidiary, says Brown, is headquartered in Johannesburg, and has a nationwide presence. Its biggest clients are SA's four major banks and others, such as Capitec Bank and Theba Bank.
Brown adds that the Diebold Staff Trust was established to provide black employees with ownership opportunities, while Dieco will facilitate any further empowerment transactions that Diebold might conclude in future.
Diebold SA imports ATMs and locally modifies these to individual customer's specifications. A large part of its business is the maintenance of existing ATMs, Brown notes.
"Our approach has been to begin with the empowerment of our own employees in the belief that by so doing we can effect the most positive change," he says.
In terms of the transaction, Dieco's earnings will be distributed to the Diebold Staff Trust which, in turn, will declare these to the beneficiaries - the employees. Diebold SA employs 180 people across its various service centres.
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