Two directors of JSE-listed ConvergeNet, including the CEO, have accepted a mandatory offer to minorities and sold stakes in the company.
In February, a consortium led by Trinity Asset Management bought a controlling stake in ConvergeNet, and said it aimed to oust several directors, including CEO Pieter Bouwer. The purchase of the majority stake led to minority shareholders being offered 26c a share to sell their holdings.
Bouwer has accepted the offer and sold almost 19 million shares, at 26c per share, for a total value of R4.9 million, according to a statement released by the company yesterday. Non-executive director Michelle Krastanov has also accepted the offer, selling 1.39 million shares for a total value of R360 451.
The offer was launched on 20 March, as the result of the buy-out, and shareholders have until 4 May to take part in the deal. Shareholders are set to be paid out on 14 May.
The consortium aims to call a shareholders' meeting to oust Bouwer and several other directors from the company's board. Trinity CEO Quinton George said in February the board needed to be cut from 13 to six.
George previously expressed concerns that three or four of ConvergeNet's acquisitions have been losing money under the current executive team, a trend he says started to happen at Sizwe, ConvergeNet's largest entity.
Earlier this month, ConvergeNet said its headline earnings per share for the six months to February would be as much as 236% lower than the first half of last year. The company added that earnings per share would slump by about 112% and would come in at a loss.
In the first half of last year, ConvergeNet reported revenue of R496.6 million and net profit of R17.7 million. The company's share closed at 26c yesterday, a 7.14% or 2c decline on Monday's close.
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