SA firm buys half of BA ISAGO
Baboki Kayawe | Tuesday November 22, 2016 17:43
Two weeks ago, the Competition Authority issued a merger notice on the proposed acquisition.
“The Competition Authority has received a merger notification for the proposed acquisition of 50% of the shares in BA ISAGO University (Pty) Ltd by Wenge (Pty) Ltd,” read the notice.
“The acquiring firm is in the process of changing its name to Embury Botswana (Pty) Ltd), for the purpose of this transaction.” According to the Competition Authority, the group acquiring a stake in BA ISAGO already has a presence in Botswana through indirect shareholding in CA Sales and Distribution (Pty) Ltd.
Prior to the acquisition, BA ISAGO was owned by veteran educationist, Odirile Gabasiane, Valencia Mogegeh, and Mothati Gabasiane, all of whom are Batswana.
The higher learning institution is an accredited private university with operations in Gaborone, Francistown, Maun as well as a satellite campus in Serowe. It has a student population of over 3,000.
Reached for comment, Gabasiane said they were still putting together a statement on the deal, which was not availed by press time. The joint communication, which will not detail the transactional value, is expected to outline the rationale of this acquisition and how it is intended to advance the university’s mandate of human capital development balanced with the entity’s business imperatives.
According to its website, the university has partnerships with other academic centres.
“BA ISAGO offers its own homegrown programmes, as well as some which are offered in collaboration with the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, ACCA, ICDL, UNISA’s Graduate School of Business Leadership (SBL), UNISA’s Centre for Business Management (CBM) and the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA),” it said.