Altech, currently the subject of a buyout bid from parent company Altron, has increased its empowerment status, under the year-old ICT charter and following Gijima's December status update, and EOH's February verification.
Level two is the second-highest possible accreditation and all three companies have now hit that level. Altech says the verification was measured under the charter.
In March, private company Parsec said it had reached level five under the charter, while, a month earlier, Technology Corporate Management said it had retained its level two rating under the charter's higher targets.
The long-awaited charter came into effect in the middle of last year and requires, among other things, that JSE-listed companies gain full ownership points for having 25.1% of their company in black hands.
Non-listed firms have a 30% equity ownership target, and 10% of voting rights should be in the hands of black women. Altech says it achieved level two broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) after being evaluated by the accredited National Empowerment Rating Agency.
Altech says it achieved a 125% BBBEE recognition level, with 33.76% black ownership and 14.24% black female ownership, and scored maximum points in the areas of ownership, skills development, enterprise development and socio-economic development.
Ownership levels
However, Altech's ownership seems set to change as, last month, Altron offered Altech's minority shareholders R47.50 for every Altech share as it seeks to take ownership of the subsidiary from 61.4% to 100%, to remove any overlaps between businesses and build on its convergence strategy.
Altron said shareholders can take a cash payout, or up to 50% of the offer in Altron shares, which values the deal at around R1.8 billion. The deal will see Altech delisted, and Altech expects to post a circular containing further details of the offer to shareholders around 27 June.
In May 2008, Altron said it aimed to create one listed entity and - since 2001 - it has brought partly-owned subsidiaries back into the fold, reducing the amount of companies from 10 to two. Altech is Altron's largest revenue contributor, accounting for R10.4 billion in the year to February.
Altech CEO Craig Venter says Altech has spent more than 1.5% of its net profit on socio-economic development projects. "I believe that all these initiatives are a clear indication of our commitment to advancing economic transformation and enhancing the economic participation of black people in the South African economy."
Under the charter, socio-economic development contributions have a compliance target of 1.5% of after-tax profit.
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