JSE says goodbye to Siltek

By Iain Scott, ITWeb group consulting editor

Johannesburg, 29 Apr 2005

Almost four years after Siltek Holdings went into liquidation, the company's JSE listing is finally being terminated.

The share is among 10 that are being delisted after having been suspended from trading for several years.

The others are Advanced Technical Systems, Chariot Land, Choice Holdings, Dynamo Retail, Fashion Africa, Leisurenet, Premier Group, Universal Growth Holdings and Whetstone Industrial Holdings.

The JSE says these shares will be delisted from the start of business on Wednesday.

"Various companies have been suspended from trading for a number of years and the terminations follow a lengthy and exhaustive process of investigation by the JSE to determine whether the companies' continued listings are of benefit to shareholders," the JSE says.

"In each instance there exists no possibility of any distribution to shareholders being declared. The JSE has, where appropriate, received the written confirmation of the companies' liquidators to this effect."

Siltek Holdings, a casualty of the IT downturn following the Y2K and dot-com bubble, closed its doors in October 2001, after convening a media conference to announce that technical insolvency and a failure to come up with a satisfactory capital restructuring plan had forced it to apply for provisional liquidation.

CEO Dave Lello said at the time that Siltek's debtors' book, which comprised mainly resellers, was in excess of R300 million. "If they paid us promptly we would probably be able to continue trading, but I understand they are also under pressure."

Several subsidiaries that were not part of the liquidation were sold off in management buyouts.