Alexander Forbes Financial Services has devised a scheme to enable shareholders to re-invest in the firm when it ceases to be a public company on July 25 and subsequently de-lists.
The move follows reports that it is to be bought by a consortium led by Actis Capital, a South African private equity fund, for P8.4 billion (approximatelyP7.4 billion).
Peter Moyo, the South Africa-based Group Chief Executive Officer for the financial advisory firm, said there are perceptions that shareholders, including Allan Grapy, "will be running away from Alexander Forbes".
"Forty-eight percent of shareholders wanted a reinvestment option. We are going to list an instrument of quasi Alexander Forbes," Moyo said.
According to the South African financial press, the reinvestment option follows threats by shareholders that they will not sanction the buyout unless the company presents them with a reinvestment option.
The listed vehicle will hold 26.5 percent in the financial services company.
Moyo says the decision to sell Alexander Forbes also follows concerns over perceptions that the group's share price was going to go down.
"Then, there was a perception that most of the shareholders will sell. They thought the value of the company was at an all time low.
"It has nothing to do with the management or the reports; it is a pure investment decision," he said.
But Moyo assured the pension fund industry that after the de-listing, Alexander Forbes will not change the way it deals with its clients.
The group, which advises the pension fund industry, currently has R150 billion (about P132 billion) in assets under its management.
Apart from South Africa, the group is also a public company in Botswana and Namibia.
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