The Centratel Group has announced that two of its main board directors, Michael Aitken and Steven Dent, have bought the shares in the organisation previously held by the Ellerine Brothers Group and David Hilewitz, who helped them fund the start-up company six years ago.
Aitken and Dent are now 100% shareholders in Centratel.
The agreement with the vendors was concluded on 1 November, and comes hot on the heels of the sale of Centratel`s least-cost routing company, Centracell.
"Our relationship with the Ellerine Brothers Group and David Hilewitz has been a very happy, long and successful one," said Michael Aitken, Group Managing Director of Centratel.
"We were always given carte blanche to run the organisation. They always supported us financially and were 100% committed to any business dealings we were involved in. The original shareholders` agreement anticipated and provided for a claw-back of shares by management from investors. This has now been realised. Their sound and ethical advice was always readily forthcoming and the high moral values they are renowned for will always be imprinted in the Centratel Group," said Aitken.
Now that the group is cash positive and debt free, Aitken said the Centratel Group was in a position to look at opportunities within the black economic empowerment sector, and did not rule out the possibility of either joining forces with an international player in their field or another organisation with whom they could derive mutual benefit.
Aitken also said that by utilising its own in-house financing organisation, Centrafin, the group would be able to provide its very large reseller base with great financial flexibility. The group is also made up of two other companies, namely Centravoice and Masakhe.
Centratel currently distributes three out of the five leading PABX brands in the world and at present is considering two acquisitions.
"We don`t rule out the possibility of a future listing on the AltX, the alternative exchange," concluded Aitken.
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The Centratel Group, consisting of three companies, namely Centrafin, Centravoice and Masakhe, is the largest multi-vendor PABX distributor in sub-Saharan Africa. The group is committed to telecommunications hardware and software distribution, and specialist financing of ICT products and services in sub-Saharan Africa.
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