Intervid trade probed

By Iain Scott, ITWeb group consulting editor

Johannesburg, 01 Dec 2004

Authorities are investigating trading in shares in now delisted IT company Intervid.

The Intervid probe is one of two new investigations in the Insider Trading Directorate`s casebook, the other involving shares in motoring company McCarthy.

In the Intervid case, the directorate is focusing on share trades that took place between May last year and March this year.

The company was delisted this year after being bought out by JSE-listed VenFin.

VenFin, already a shareholder, agreed in March to buy the Howard family`s approximately 33% shareholding at 34c a share after a reversal of a shareholder revolt staged by the family. This was followed by a buyout of minorities.

VenFin`s agreement to buy the Howard family stake came after the family declined an offer to buy VenFin`s shares in the company.

After closing investigations into trade in Primedia and Amalgamated Appliance Holdings, the Insider Trading Directorate now has eight open cases, four of which involve IT companies: CS Holdings, Intervid, Omega Alpha International Info Technology Holdings and Sempres International Technology Holdings.

The directorate stresses that its probes are not into the affairs of the companies, but into trading in shares on the stock exchange.