Sasol to sell 10 per cent stake worth $2.5 billion to black South Africans

10 September 2007

Mumbai: Sasol Ltd, the world''s biggest producer of coal-based gasoline and diesel, will sell 10 per cent of its issued share capital to black investors in South Africa, in a transaction valued at 18.2 billion rand ($2.5 billion), in the country''s largest redistribution of wealth since the end of apartheid.

The proposed `Black Economic Empowerment'' transaction is designed to provide long term, sustainable benefits to all participants and will have a tenure of ten years, the company said in a release.

The empowerment programme will cover broad-based black South African public, all of Sasol''s employees below managerial level who are permanently resident in South Africa as well as Sasol black managers and black non-executive directors and the Sasol Foundation.

The company will offer stock and preferred shares to employees, black investment groups and people living near its operations at Sasolburg and Secunda. Investor groups may be locked into the accord for 10 years, reports quoting Sasol chief executive Pat Davies said.

``We want as many black South Africans as feasibly possible, most of whom have never owned shares before, to become shareholders,'''' Davies said in a statement.

Sasol said it expects to issue 34.5 million ordinary shares and 28.2 million preferred shares. To mitigate dilution for existing shareholders, the company said it may recommence a share repurchase programme that would be funded with available cash.