With R300-million in new cash in its coffers, construction and mining firm, Basil Read is on track to effect a solid turnaround, according to CEO Khathutshelo Mapasa.
Basil Read successfully concluded a rights offer on Friday, 23 February 2018. The full R300-million required for repayment of the bridge loan and working capital was raised. The sale had opened on 12 February.
Mapasa is confident the steps planned to effect a turnaround – for which the rights offer was key – will work.
The shares, offered at a discounted price of 22 cents a share, was supported by the company’s major shareholders, says Mapasa.
Shareholders led by Allan Gray, PSG Asset Management, Prudential Investment Managers, Sishen Iron Ore Community (SIOC) Trust and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) undertook to follow their rights.
Mapasa acknowledged that the path to a turnaround is not a short or easy journey.
“With this new cash injection, Basil Read is on a firm path towards recovery,” Mapasa said this week. “We are cognisant of, and grateful for, the shareholders’ faith in us. There’s hard work ahead, but we’re ready.”
Photos: Basil Read