PQ Africa`s change of name to Comparex Africa was planned some time ago, but the company had to get its house in order before going ahead, says CEO Peter Watt.
"It has been on the cards for quite some time," Watt says. "The holding company is Comparex, the quoted company is Comparex, but no one associated PQ Africa with Comparex, so statements we made as PQ Africa were meaningless in the Comparex context.
"At every presentation I went to, the most asked question was when were we changing our name.
"The most important part of the change is the timing. We didn`t want to change it before because people would have said we were a bum company changing our name and expecting people to think we were a different company."
The PQ Africa name came from the merger of Persetel and Q Data in 1997.
"The main thing is we now have a central banner that everyone can buy into. It doesn`t come with any baggage," Watt says.
Comparex Holdings owns 50% of Comparex Africa, minus one share, while the controlling interest, 50% plus a share, is owned by black empowerment consortium Nitac.
Watt says Nitac has the right to trade its shareholding up to holding company level, which will result in the consortium owning 16% of Comparex Holdings. He adds that this fact will open a number of options for the company.
"So it makes sense to change the name at this point."
Some of the operations, particularly Q Data and Persetel, will retain their current branding. Group marketing and communication executive Diana de Sousa says client research showed that there was strong brand awareness around the two operations, which would be severed if they were rebranded.
Watt adds that the two operations have nothing to do with investment, since people relate to them as customers rather than investors.
He says the company now needs two things: a growing economy and a bit of luck. "We have got rid of most of our non-core businesses and the businesses in which we had only 30% and so on, and the remaining operations are strong."
He says there is no shortage of projects, although many have been delayed. "I don`t know whether that is because of the Twin Towers or a reticence that has become entrenched. But the projects are there, so when something happens to turn it around we will have plenty to do."
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