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Wiese Sallies forth Posted: Thu, 16 Mar 2006 [miningmx.com] -- RETAIL tycoon, Christo Wiese, has emerged as the underwriter for a R47m rights offer by fluorspar producer Sallies, which recently announced an underwriting agreement with Titan Financial Services for the full underwriting of a rights issue entailing subscription for an additional 103 million ordinary shares in Sallies at 46c/share. A search on www.legalcity.net shows that the directors of Titan Financial Services are Christoffel Hendrik Wiese and Isak Hendrik Johannes Visagie. Titan has long been Weise’s corporate guise and he’s shown as a director of Titan Nominees, Titan Share Dealers and Titan Global Investments. The agreement with Sallies also states Titan paid a commission of R1.18m (2.5% of the rights issue) for “carrying out its obligations to underwrite the rights offer”. Sallies, which has enjoyed strong market support since cancelling its onerous contract with US-based Honeywell, will use the rights issue’s proceeds to fund its recently announced acquisition of Buffalo Fluorspar and also reduce debt. The participation of Wiese in the rights offer is probably good news for shareholders, with an influential South African investor expressing confidence in the longer-term prospects for Sallies. But with Sallies shares trading above 60c on the JSE, there may not be too many shareholders opting to let their subscription rights lapse. Wiese, while mainly associated with the retail sector, has been an astute – if low-key investor – in a number of listed small cap companies over the past few years. While best remembered for his forays into banking groups Boland Bank and BoE, Wiese has over the years also shown a penchant for diamond mining companies. But Sallies may represent Wiese’s first investment venture into base minerals. Wiese’s role in Namco’s struggle against Remgro/Trans Hex for control of Ocean Diamond Mining Holdings (ODM) in the late Nineties was a prime example of clever corporate manoeuvring. It was also an exercise that unlocked substantial value for ODM shareholders. Wiese is also a major shareholder in industrial/agricultural supplies group Invicta and a strategic investor in unlisted wine and brandy maker KWV. Wiese, according to unconfirmed speculation, is also a significant shareholder in vehicle tracking technology group Digicore.
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