Mustek has earned a total of R44.4 million, after selling its 42% stake in Comztek to dual-listed Datatec, thanks to a dividend, which boosted its gain from the sale of the stake beyond the initial offer price.
Last year, Datatec said it would buy the pan-African distributor for R88 million from Mustek and other shareholders, and merge it with its local Westcon unit. The deal would create SA's largest value-added distributor with revenue of more than R2.6 billion, doubling Westcon's African business.
Comztek is present in 26 countries, with a head office in Johannesburg and regional offices in KwaZulu-Natal, the Cape, Namibia, Mauritius, Zambia and an East African office in Kenya. Post-merger, Comztek MD Paul Conradie will become CEO, while Westcon SA FD Fathima Gany will be CFO and Comztek FD Andries Coetzee will be COO.
Buyout boost
In a statement to shareholders yesterday, Mustek said it sold its 41.84% stake, for R39.4 million, which was paid in R27.4 million in cash and Datatec shares. Comztek also declared a dividend before the deal went through, effectively increasing Mustek's payout to R44.4 million.
A few years ago, Datatec's previous bid to buy Comztek, for R101 million, fell through as Mustek was not keen to sell its share, instead wanting to increase its holding. At the time, Datatec said it would not pursue the buyout any further.
Mustek acquired the Comztek stake when it helped management purchase the company in 1999. Comztek was established in September 1999, but was initially formed in 1995 as Comzlink, a subsidiary of Centera, which was owned by Siltek and Q Data.
Four years after it was initially formed, Leen van der Bijl and Conradie bought out the distributor with Mustek's assistance.
Mustek's sale was part of its ongoing drive to reduce debt by disposing of non-core assets. CEO and founder David Kan has said Mustek, which did not have a controlling stake, had tried to buy out other shareholders, but failed.
In a separate announcement, Datatec says it paid out a total of R48 million in cash, with R20.6 million going to management sellers, which it funded from new loan finance. Its payment included R8 million due because Comztek met certain performance targets.
Datatec will issue 752 606 shares to cover the balance of the amount that is due, which are expected to list on the JSE and London's Alternative Investment Market on 12 June.
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