Trading Day – RMI to become OUTsurance

Rand Merchant Investment Holdings has issued the documentation required to formally change its name to OUTsurance Group Limited.

Famous Brands announced plans to buy its Midrand head office for R181 million in a deal which includes acquiring Steers Properties and Halamandaris Property.

Meanwhile, Grindrod Shipping has announced an agreement with Taylor Maritime Investments (TMI) to sell all remaining Grindrod Shipping shares to TMI for a total of US$26 per share.

In other news, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised SA’s growth outlook lower amid a higher global recession risk.

Here is the biggest news of the day.

• Famous Brands plans to buy its Midrand head office for R181 million. Steers Properties and Halamandaris Property will be acquired from the company’s founders to expand and reconfigure the head office and logistics centre. Because this is a related party transaction, Famous Brands has appointed BDO Corporate Finance as an independent expert to issue a fairness opinion. This opinion has been submitted to the JSE for review. The transaction will be settled from the company’s existing cash balances.

• Grindrod Shipping has announced an agreement with Taylor Maritime Investments (TMI) to sell all remaining Grindrod Shipping shares to TMI for a total of US$26 per share. TMI already owns a 26.6% stake in Grindrod Shipping through its subsidiary, Good Falkirk. At the end of August TMI had made an indicative all cash offer of US$26 for each Grindrod Shipping Holdings Limited share that it didn’t already own (consisting of a cash purchase price of US$21 per share plus a special cash dividend from Grindrod of US$5 per share to its existing shareholders), Taylor Maritime Investments (TMI) has announced that it has now made a conditional offer to Grindrod with these same headline terms. Grindrod holds approximately 10.1% of the outstanding shares in Grindrod Shipping. The transaction values Grindrod at approximately US$506 million on a fully diluted basis (including the special dividend).

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised SA’s growth outlook lower amid a higher risk of global recession. The country’s growth forecast has been lowered to 2.1% this year and 1.1% in 2023, down from the previously forecasted 1.4%. Sub-Saharan Africa and emerging markets as a whole are projected to grow faster than South Africa, at 3.7% in 2023. The IMF warned that the risk of a global recession is growing and that more than a third of the global economy could contract. In its October World Economic Outlook, the IMF revised its global growth expectation for 2023, down from 2.9% to 2.7%. It expects a long-term average growth for the world economy of around 3.4%.

• Rand Merchant Investment Holdings has issued the documentation required to formally change its name to OUTsurance Group Limited and is expected to start trading under the new name on 7 December, with the ticker JSE:OUT.

• The South Korean central bank has raised interest rates by 0.50% to a 10-year high of 3.00%. Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-Yong acknowledged the difficulty of sticking with outsized interest rate hikes to battle inflation and support the currency after the central bank’s latest move prompted dissent within his board.