South Africa: A steady flow for private equity

May 01, 1999

During the apartheid years and beyond corporate South Africa assembled unwieldy conglomerates to utilize domestic assets that could not be employed elsewhere. Now an economy that is opening up is going through a process of reshuffling and unbundling, with private-equity firms taking an increasingly important role. Richard Stovin-Bradford reports.

Largest South African companies by market capitalization
Company	*Rbn*
Anglo American Corporation	64.5
Richemont	51.8
De Beers Consolidated	50.0
SA Breweries	40.6
Billiton	33.9
FirstRand	32.1
Nedcor	30.2
Minorco	28.0
Anglogold	24.4
Rembrandt Group	23.2
Anglo American Platinum	22.6
Stanbic	20.5
Liberty Life	19.7
Sasol	18.8
Dimension Data	18.6
Absa Group	18.4
Investec Group	18.2
Comparex Holdings	15.5
BOE	15.2
Anamint	14.9
*Source: Johannesburg Stock Exchange*

The concept of private equity is not new to corporate South Africa, but it is only in the past year or two that it has been recognized as a force for change. Since the beginning of this year, private-equity firms have generated a significant amount of the flurry of corporate activity on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

South Africa: A steady flow for private equity

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