New CEOs have broader plans for Explorer

By Iain Scott, ITWeb group consulting editor

Johannesburg, 28 Feb 2001

The new board at Explorer Corporation plans to take the Explorer card into the rest of Africa.

Newly appointed joint-CEO Colin Clarke says the board, which was announced this morning, sees "great things on the horizon" for debit and credit cards in Africa.

"The Explorer card certainly has a broader horizon than SA," he adds.

The company announced this morning that Aaron Stanger had stepped down as chairman and CEO and had been replaced by Justin Chinyata as chairman and by Clarke and Yousef Bazian as joint-CEOs.

The three new board members are all from Loita Capital Partners, which recently made R800 000 cash available to Explorer, with an additional R2 million available in a loan account.

The deal resulted in Loita being allotted 8 million new ordinary Explorer shares at 5c each, giving it a 34.9% shareholding in Explorer.

"It is no secret in the marketplace that Aaron [Stanger] is not a front-line manager," says Clarke. "He is a visionary, and he has other strengths to bring to Explorer."

He adds that Stanger will be a consultant to Loita on the card business in Africa.

The joint-CEOs have been appointed on an interim basis to manage the company "and steer it in the right direction" until it is ready to look for a new CEO.

Clarke says Loita will probably look at increasing its stake in Explorer later on.

"We want to add a lot of value to the Explorer brand." He notes that Loita owns various corporate finance, financial services and private equity companies, among others, throughout Africa.

With the exception of Explorer, all its subsidiaries` earnings are dollar-denominated.

He says Loita will look at rolling other appropriate entities into Explorer to enhance the brand.

Commenting on the protracted legal wrangle between Explorer and Mercantile Lisbon Bank, Clarke says: "There is no longer a wrangle. We are moving towards resolving matters, but I would say the wrangle is over."

He says the board has a definite direction in mind, which is centred on restoring stability and consolidating the company, as well as improving business relationships.

"We will be releasing details to the market in the coming weeks, and for anyone who has followed Explorer in the past, it will restore their confidence in the company."