All the usual suspects?
We spoke to a representative of Chartwell Capital recently, on the subject of BEE.
He says that the problem with BEE financing and identifying potential partners is that the usual suspects have the capacity and the experience to do the business, while the emerging players don’t have the capacity or the experience.
“It’s a problem and one of the reasons we starting knocking on the doors of the bigger operators. The smaller players
The chicken and egg conundrum, it seems.
On the other hand Absa has a unit specifically dedicated to BEE financing – Absa Corporate and Merchant Bank (ACMB) Black Empowerment Financing Unit – headed up by George Sebulela, which has a clear mandate.
Sebulela: “We are aware of the conditions and hurdles faced by new entrants, and have innovative solutions that will fundamentally change the ownership patterns in South Africa.
John 'italla'– head of ACMB - says they embrace BEE, and want to create value, and are passionate about this. “There has been robust BEE activity this year, and Absa was involved in one of the bigger deals in the property sector valued at around R1bn.”
Sebulela says that they are optimistic about growth at 6% levels, and the possibility of any interest rate shocks seem to be a thing of the past, which has meant that investors are getting increasingly bold in the decision making.
