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The Competition Tribunal in South Africa has given unconditional approval for the merger of Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the Bond Exchange of South Africa Limited (BESA). An announcement was made to their market overnight New Zealand time. This decision, together with the approvals already obtained from the South African Reserve Bank and the Financial Services Board, means that all regulatory approvals required for the merger to go ahead have been obtained.
There are no conditions attached to the transaction.
>The final step in the process is the application to the High Court of South Africa to sanction the scheme of arrangement, in terms of which the JSE will acquire the entire issued share capital of BESA. The parties expect this application to be heard on or about 9 June 2009, followed by the registration of the Court order by the Registrar in terms of the South African Companies Act.
NZX is the largest BESA shareholder with ownership of approximately 22% of the total issued capital of BESA, secured on 3 October 2008 at a cost of Rand 73.17 per share.
On 24 October 2008 the JSE made an initial offer of Rand 90 per BESA share, and revised its offer on 11 December to Rand 125 per share. This was recommended by the BESA Board to shareholders as a fair reflection of the value of the company.
The agreed price per share represents a 71% premium to the Rand 73.17 price per share that NZX paid on 3 October 2008, and a 39% premium to the original Rand 90 per share offer from the JSE.
Further information can be found at http://www.jse.co.za/besa-deal.jsp and http://www.bondexchange.co.za/besa/view/besa/en/page46150
