THE Black Business Chamber (BBC) said on Monday that it had learned with dismay the news that British Telecoms (BT) intended dumping African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI) as its empowerment partner.
AEEI is a South African majority black-owned and black-controlled investment holding company, while BT is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London.
In a statement the BBC said: “It is interesting to note that AEEI has been a value-adding empowerment of BT for more than three decades.
“Its is estimated that the share value of BT when they entered into a partnership with AEEI stood at about R1 billion … and 30 years down the line value of their shares stands at about R4bn. The value that BT has benefited from the partnership is more than 75%.”
The BBC said while it was the right of both parties to come to a stage where the agreement might be terminated on amicable grounds, BBC was troubled to learn that BT was proposing a call option that was below the current value of the 30% shares that AEEI holds in the company.
The chamber said it viewed such a proposal as defeating the very same purpose that the agreement was entered for.
“It is the view of BBC that if such a call agreement as proposed by BT were to happen, that would set a very bad precedent, where companies enter into BEE deals with Black companies only to use and dump them after having reaped massive benefits out of those deals BBC is calling BTPLC, who is a multinational companies who is a holding company of BT to do a call option that benefits on both parties,” said the BBC.
In a recent statement on the Stock Exchange News Service AEEI said: “AEEI and BTSA are dealing with the BT Call Option dispute in accordance with the provisions of the Shareholders Agreement referred to in the Cautionary Announcement. The International Court of Arbitration has set down the matter for hearing from 10 July 2023 to 21 July 2023.”
The company advised shareholders to continue to exercise caution when dealing in the company’s securities until further announcements in respect of the BT Call Option are made.