Board changes loom at JSE-listed diversified technology group 4Sight, following a major shareholder demanding a shake-up.
When implemented, this will be the second reshuffle at the company, which made sweeping changes at the executive level a few months ago, which saw then CEO Antonie van Rensburg step down to assume the role of chief digital officer.
Vincent Raseroka took over as CEO at the beginning of this year, when he outlined big plans, including what he called “real empowerment”, with intentions for the South African business to be at least 51% black-owned.
He said the plan at the time was to get 4Sight SA's 51% shareholding to be "majority-owned by young black females that are competent, that are capable, that have studied this stuff, that will be customer-facing, and that actually understand and operate these businesses".
4Sight was listed in October 2017, at which time SA was its smallest revenue contributor, at only about 3% of revenue. In June 2018, Van Rensburg told ITWeb this had grown to about 40% of revenue locally, and by 31 December 2018, this was up to almost 60%.
Now, the firm, which invests in Industry 4.0 technology businesses and helps companies embrace fourth industrial revolution solutions, says the investor wants shareholders to “consider various resolutions for the purposes of, inter alia, reconstituting the board”.
In a SENS statement on Friday, the company confirmed it received correspondence from a shareholder holding at least 5% of the voting rights of the issued share capital, requiring the board to call a shareholder meeting.
“The company is taking advice in response to the correspondence received and a further announcement will be made once the appropriate way forward has been determined by the board,” read the statement.
4Sight has been showing signs of growth and has made a lot of acquisitions since listing, which it said were to boost its capabilities in various industries.
In October 2017, it purchased AGE Technologies for R80 million and also announced the acquisition of BluESP Holdings for R54.8 million. In January 2018, it finalised the acquisition of Foursight South Africa and its subsidiaries, for R85.6 million.
In April 2018, it announced plans to acquire a 70% stake in Simulation Engineering Technologies for R53.5 million, and agreed to a joint venture with Shenzhen Rongmei Science and Technology to boost its business in Asia. The same month, it acquired professional services firm AccTech Systems and its subsidiary, Dynamics Africa Services, for R120 million and R30 million, respectively.
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