Rockwell Diamonds has reached an agreement with African Renaissance Holdings (ARH) as its new black institutional investor who will acquire a 30 percent equity stake in the company’s Middle Orange operations, in South Africa.
The diamond producer said ARH had already fulfilled most of the conditions precedent and had already supported the company in relevant matters.
ARH was established in 1994 to champion active participation and ownership by black South Africans in strategic economic sectors.
Following a restructuring of its shareholder constellation, ARH currently chaired by Bobby Makwetla, would pursue its successful investment track record in both listed and unlisted entities in sectors including telecommunications, mining, diamonds and related services.
"Following an exhaustive process to identify a new partner who shared our approach and vision and wanted to work with us to deliver on our objectives, we identified ARH who has an established track record in value creating BEE transactions,” said Rockwell chief executive James Campbell.
“We are excited about this new partnership and confident that together this transaction will add significant value to our business going forward."
He said Rockwell had always been committed to participating in the economic transformation in South Africa.
“We consider the finalisation of this strategic partnership as an important milestone in our voyage towards building a leading value-focused African diamond business with a strong social license to operate in partnership with all our stakeholders,” said Campbell.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished from Cape Town, South Africa
