Do you remember the run up to your matric dance? I certainly do. I don`t know if it was the same for the boys, but the girls in my year spent the six months running up to the year-end not on studying for finals, but trying to catch the best date.
SA`s business sector has appeared remarkably similar in the last 18 months. And the ICT sector has been no different, wooing smaller - and sometimes larger - competitors, as well as key executives and shareholders.
While acquisition - of business and people - certainly plays a role in any aggressive growth strategy, I can`t help but wonder if some of our players are biting off more than they can chew.
Behind closed doors
Make no mistake: companies are talking with their counterparts. Even listed organisations are in talks with several more businesses than their notices to shareholders suggest.
Take for instance Telkom`s discussions with MTN and Vodafone.
These negotiations started some time ago. However, it was a September article in Sunday Times` Business Times that forced the company to advise shareholders that it was in fact in talks. Which is not to say these talks were that closely guarded either.
As early as July, ITWeb reported that Telkom and MTN were rumoured to be in talks. Of course, this type of speculation is always rife; however, some market players felt confident enough about their information and invested before the cautionary notice was issued.
As a journalist, I have received information about several other talks that the companies were not ready to tell their shareholders about.
While it`s good for me, and my KPI, to break news, there is a reason why the JSE has rules about how information is disseminated to the public. All investors should be on an equal footing as far as information is concerned. If this is not the case, then those in the know can limit their liabilities, or boost their earnings.
Nevertheless, the human need to share secrets continues to overshadow the fear of repercussions from our bourse.
Collecting scalps
The human need to share secrets continues to overshadow the fear of repercussions from our bourse.
Kimberly Guest, senior journalist, ITWeb
her rather concerning aspect of today`s marketplace is the amount of movement at a senior executive level. Even government has been unable to stem the headhunting that is taking place within its walls - and it`s not all by the private sector.
One chief executive told me a while back that a black executive with strong political connections could pretty much name his or her price. Ability to do anything other than get "the right people on our side" is just a bonus.
Most of the black executives I have had the pleasure of working with would be disgusted by this viewpoint. However, I wonder what the response would be if I revealed that the chief executive in question is black?
Whichever way you look at it, our companies are bleeding - in a spurty, life-threatening way - high-powered people.
The morning after
Returning to my matric dance, I vividly remember the big party. Decked out in all our glory, we all maintained we were having the best time ever.
However, looking back I see that there were definitely two camps: the winners and the losers.
Some had snared the most popular boys, only to find them snogging someone else by the bathrooms. Others had come with the obligatory best male friend, only to find that perhaps this long-neglected friend warranted further attention.
And, of course, hangovers the next morning were universal.
Looking at various global markets, I can`t help but wonder if SA`s acquisitive party is nearing dawn. At some stage, this party will end or change dramatically. It`s fun at the time, but picking up the pieces afterwards could be more difficult for others.
Who knows who the winners will be? I suspect it will be those who planned their buys with a little more circumspection. After all, integration of one key executive, never mind a whole workforce, can literally be a nightmare.
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