Sharemax wants to list through similarly colourful Bonatla.
ALEC HOGG: Something very interesting, Dave. You will remember our good friend Deon Basson. He was often in the studio with us, an investigative journalist of great repute, who focused his attention on a company called Sharemax. Now Julius Cobbett at Moneyweb has been doing the same thing, finally getting his hands on financials not looking good at all. And today comes the news that Sharemax looks to be listing perhaps on the JSE. Niki Vontas is the chief executive of a company called Bonatla. It’s a small business. It’s only an 8c share, or that was at one stage a 65c share, and it is going to be the vehicle through which Sharemax apparently is going to be listing all of its properties. Niki joins us now.
Is this you making this takeover option – in other words, the flea trying to eat the elephant, or has Sharemax approached you, Niki, to use Bonatla as a vehicle?
NIKI VONTAS: Well, we are not a flea, and Alec, good evening. It’s effectively what they call the Babanaltla [?].
ALEC HOGG: OK, but you are a R40m company, and they are a R5bn company. So you are not a flea, you are a mouse against an elephant, I guess.
NIKI VONTAS: Exactly. It’s basically David against Goliath, to be a little more novel. But you know in business, Alec, size doesn’t count. It’s more intellect that counts. And effectively we, a few months ago if you remember, we did a hostile takeover of the Bluezone portfolio, which was an embattled syndication company. We had to spend R30m of our cash to settle creditors, clean up this company with a Section 311 compromise, and with a lot of dirt, with a lot of malpractice, and eventually 1 500 shareholders gave the vote of confidence on this small portfolio. Obviously the Sharemax property company is a much bigger exercise, and it’ll require much more work, and it’s not going to be a very easy transaction.
ALEC HOGG: Ja, the Bluezone itself is pretty controversial, and you are managing to put that down.
NIKI VONTAS: Yes, we basically settled the creditors, settled the arrears due to Nedbank, spent R30m including legal fees, because we undertook to support the shareholders’ fight against all odds. And obviously Sharemax is going to be a very difficult exercise. It’s not going to be easy because it’s obviously much more of a takeover by Bonatla than a walk in the park.
ALEC HOGG: You’ve only given yourself 15 days to do a due diligence on 39 companies in this rather murky operation.
NIKI VONTAS: We have employed a very professional team of specialists … Sanlam Properties, and they’ve already done comprehensive work for the last two weeks effectively.
ALEC HOGG: All right. So you are confident you’ve got enough time. Have you spoken with the Sharemax directors at all? Are they supporting this takeover?
NIKI VONTAS: Yes, and I think they know they have to support it.
ALEC HOGG: Why?
NIKI VONTAS: Because I think the developments in which they are engaged cannot be any more funded internally through the syndication operations, especially the villa. Secondly some of the structurings that were used in the past, especially the debentures, obviously have to be reviewed, because obviously the debenture structure is one that becomes a dinosaur in property funding, and all the trends are towards equity.
ALEC HOGG: But this has been your initiative – this has been your idea?
NIKI VONTAS: It is my initiative and I’m told that there were another seven bidders against us that came to the front long before us in fact, because obviously we are most probably the last in the list.
ALEC HOGG: Interesting times, and we will be following this very closely – the very controversial takeover possibility of the mouse of the elephant.
courtesy of Moneyweb