Nedcor has bumped up its holding in smart card company, Net 1 Applied Technology (Aplitec), raising its stake from 26.2% to 50%.
Nedcor made the initial acquisition of 26.2% of Aplitec in July last year for R114 million. The acquisition came with a two-year option to increase the holding to 50%.
Nedcor has since chosen to take the full 50% stake. Herman Kotze, Aplitec`s chief financial officer, says he hopes to achieve this with shares available on the market.
If the requisite shares are not available for purchase on the open market, Kotze says an offer will be made on the balance, discounted by not more than 10%.
The Aplitec share is currently trading around 265c.
Nedcor is hoping for a waiver from shareholders on the mandatory offer option. Kotze says this looks likely, as major shareholders that have been approached have reacted positively.
This means Nedcor will not have to make the mandatory offer to purchase shares of minority shareholders.
Kotze says management will remain unchanged. Nedcor appointed two directors to the Aplitec board at the time of the initial acquisition in July.
Looking ahead, Kotze says Aplitec will continue to leverage off the relationship with Nedcor.
The smart card application company recently won the pension payment scheme for the Northern Cape, and is looking at launching a smart card wage and salary system.
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Nedcor acquires 26% of Aplitec
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