End of a 74-year-era for historic South African sugar producer

The JSE has decided to delist Tongaat Hulett from the bourse, effective 3 November 2026. Tongaat has been listed on the exchange since 1952.

The JSE’s decision to delist the sugar giant was based on its inability to meet the obligations of a listed company, and because the company’s shares have not traded on the JSE for four years.

This was announced on Monday, 12 October, with Tongaat outlining the reasons behind the JSE’s decision.

Tongaat was listed on the JSE in 1952 under the name J L Hulett & Sons. From there, the company continued to expand, becoming a takeover target in the 1960s.

In the early 1960s, Huletts had become an attractive asset that caught the attention of a consortium led by The Tongaat Sugar Company, along with union financiers.

This consortium launched a hostile takeover, which resulted in it acquiring more than 50% of the sugar producer’s voting stock. 

For two decades, Huletts Corporation and The Tongaat Group operated as connected corporations until they merged in 1982.

This marked the birth of Tongaat Hulett as South Africans know it today. 

Tongaat Hulett continued to perform well post-merger, but in 2019, an accounting scandal rocked the company.

Widespread fraud came to light in 2019, with key executives having inflated the company’s profits over multiple years. This resulted in a R12 billion write-down in the company’s value.

In July 2022, Tongaat’s shares were suspended by the JSE after it failed to publish its annual results for the year through March 2022.

A few months later, Tongaat was placed into voluntary business rescue, with its business rescue plan adopted in 2024.

The company’s shares have remained suspended on the JSE ever since, and the bourse has now decided to delist Tongaat Hulett.

This decision was based on three reasons:

• Tongaat’s inability to meet the obligations of a listed company, including having non-executive directors and producing audited financial statements.
• The company’s lack of auditable statements. 
• Tongaat’s shares have not traded on the JSE for four years, leaving no valuation basis for the public market.

In announcing the JSE’s decision, Tongaat explained that, post-delisting, its shares will be held as unlisted certificated shares.

These shares will be managed by the transfer agent, Computershare. It added that no buyout offer or cash payment is being made to shareholders.

This is because all of Tongaat’s operating assets are being disposed of to satisfy its debt obligations. This means no value or future distributions are expected to accrue to shareholders.

Tongaat emphasised that this delisting will not stop its business rescue process. The company’s removal from the JSE will take effect on 3 November 2026.