South Africa’s Barloworld in talks with Saudi Arabia’s Zahid Group
Barloworld is in talks with a group of investors that includes a unit of Saudi Arabia’s Zahid Group about the acquisition of the African distributor of Caterpillar Inc. equipment.
The Johannesburg-based company, valued at about R16-billion, said the discussions are with a consortium that includes Gulf Falcon Holding — a wholly owned subsidiary of Zahid — and Entsha.
“Barloworld has entered into negotiations with a consortium of investors, acting through a newly established SPV, which, if concluded, will result in the consortium making an offer to acquire all of the issued ordinary shares in Barloworld,” it said in a statement on Friday.
Middle Eastern firms have increasingly been seeking investments in Africa, jockeying for influence with established players like China and France. ACWA Power, a Riyadh-based company, has signed a memorandum of understanding to invest $10-billion in South Africa’s renewable-energy industry over the next 10 years, while DP World, the Dubai-based logistics company, operates nine ports on the continent.
The announcement confirms an earlier Bloomberg report.
The Saudi group, a distributor of heavy equipment machinery in the Middle Eastern nation, started buying shares of Barloworld four years ago. One of its units, Zahid Tractor and Heavy Machinery Co, owns 18.9% of the South African company.
Barloworld is the official Caterpillar dealer in several African countries including Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Angola and South Africa. It also has a business in Russia that has been subject to an internal investigation into possible export violations.
A deal may see Barloworld being taken private.
Comments
Research Reports
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Rooted in the hearts of South Africans, combining technology and a quest for perfection to bring you a battery of peerless standing. Willard...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Avlock International is a leading manufacturer and distributor of Specialized Fastening Systems.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
