Sasfin, a bank and financial services group for entrepreneurs and high-net worth individuals has offered to buy out its minority shareholders at R30 per share – a 65% premium to the 30-day average price – as part of a proposed delisting of the group.
The price of Sasfin’s thinly traded shares shot up 45.03% to R26.88 by yesterday afternoon, although the price was still some 16% shy of its R32 12-month high.
The offer for the group that has been listed since 1987 would be funded by major shareholders WIPHOLD, a woman-owned investment company, and Unitas subscribing for shares in Sasfin Wealth.
The Sasfin Wealth management team will also be buying into Sasfin Wealth as part of the envisaged transactions. Unitas Enterprises is owned by trusts of which Roland Sassoon and Sasfin CEO Michael Sassoon are beneficiaries.
The proposal to delist comes at a time when Sasfin is facing much lower profits – it reported a steep 62.5% slide in headline earnings for the six months ended December 31, 2023 – and after the SA Revenue Service in March issued it a summons for R4.9 billion for alleged unlawful offshore flows.
“These proposed transactions, subject to the relevant shareholder and regulatory approvals are the next step in our strategic reset announced in March, 2023. The aim is to simplify the group by backing our core businesses and ultimately unlock value for stakeholders,” Michael Sassoon said yesterday.
As part of the strategic reset, Sasfin Holdings had already exited its Specialised Lending and Foreign Exchange businesses, and was awaiting final regulatory approvals to dispose of its Capital Equipment Finance and Commercial Property Finance businesses to African Bank.
WIPHOLD, which had been invested in Sasfin since 2017, and Unitas would each subscribe for an effective 7.5% shareholding in Sasfin Wealth at an implied valuation of R500 million for Sasfin Wealth.
Key executives of Sasfin Wealth led by CEO Erol Zeki, who has grown the business over many years would participate in a management buy-in scheme to acquire 15% of Sasfin Wealth.
WIPHOLD founder Gloria Serobe said they had a long track record in investing in the financial services sector. Unitas and WIPHOLD already collectively hold 73.1% of Sasfin Holdings shares.
“We want to increase our investment in Sasfin as we believe in the strategy of the business and its ability to deliver value to our shareholders,” she said.
Following the proposed cash subscriptions from WIPHOLD and Unitas, Sasfin Wealth would make an offer to acquire up to 10% in Sasfin Holdings. The offer provided minority shareholders with the option to remain invested or exit at a substantial premium to the current market price. These structural changes would enable the proposed delisting of Sasfin Holdings from the JSE.
“The offer to shareholders and proposed delisting will result in a significant value unlock. A delisting is optimal as Sasfin currently has a limited free float. As an unlisted company, Sasfin will be able to more seamlessly execute on its strategic reset, which will include further strategic actions,” said Sassoon.
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