Imperial Holdings, the listed transport and mobility group, yesterday reported that it had submitted a firm offer of R723.78 million to buy 100 percent of CIC Holdings, the JSE-listed Namibian company operating in the fast-moving consumer goods industry. The proposed acquisition, via a scheme of arrangement, is in line with Imperial's stated strategy of expanding its logistics business into Africa. If successful, the deal will lead to the delisting of CIC. The offer for ë.19 million CIC shares is equivalent to R2.87 a share, which represents a premium of 32.5 percent to the 30-day volume weighted average share price of R2.17 on June 8 and 14 percent to the 22-day volume weighted average share price last Thursday. Imperial said shareholders of CIC collectively holding 202.1 million shares (80 percent of the total issued share capital) had undertaken to vote in favour of the scheme.

The scheme meeting will be convened on or before October 22 and the scheme will be implemented by November 29. The offer is subject to approval by the competition authorities and the support and recommendation of the directors of CIC. Hubert Brody, the chief executive of Imperial, said CIC's experience and expertise in the distribution of fast-moving consumer goods in the African market gave Imperial an ideal platform to extend its footprint in sub-Saharan Africa. Brody said the acquisition fitted Imperial's strategic acquisition criteria because CIC had good cash flow generation, was asset light and had an ability to maintain a consistently high return on invested capital. CIC also had strong operating margins and distributed leading brands. Imperial could benefit from economies of scale, the potential to expand its service offering and optimise labour within the group.

Imperial Logistics chief executive Marius Swanepoel said the acquisition of CIC would support Imperial's strategy of servicing its fast-moving consumer goods clients in southern Africa. CIC has facilities in the main centres across Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa.