Botswana Ash ready for business with new partners

PATRICIA MAGANU
Staff Writer | Wednesday June 9, 2010 00:00

CAH formally took over from a consortium of corporate investors styled B Shareholders that included Anglo American, De Beers Botswana, First Rand Bank and the Standard Bank Group at a ceremony at the mine in Sowa Town last week.

The General Manager of Botash, Derek Cochrane says operations with the new shareholders, CAH, have to start now.  Speakers at the handover ceremony said the sale of the shares was the longest such transaction ever.

Negotiations started in 2006 but were only wrapped up in December of 2008.  Even then, legal formalities and government approval stretched the process further until now.

Cochrane said a new board would be set up at a meeting called for the purpose in August. 'We will probably ask for 50/50 and may be six private shareholders can also sit on the board,' he said.  It will be business as usual until the August meeting, he added. In the meantime, Botash will acquaint itself with the new shareholders. 

'We were very fortunate with the past shareholders in that they supported us 100 percent,' said Cochrane. 'We hope the same will continue with our new partners so that they grow with us in the market.'

Managing Director of CAH Barney Steyn said that they were partners in business with Investec. 'By implication, Investec is also a shareholder in Botash and they will also have to sit directly on the board,' Steyn said.