Imperial Holdings Ltd and Cullinan Holdings Ltd are pleased to announce the sale of Imperial Holdings’ tourism division to Cullinan Holdings.
The tourism division had become sub-ssub-scalecale in the context of Imperial Holdings, and consequently the group has agreed to dispose of its travel, tourism and coach charter businesses to Cullinan, subject to approval by the Competition Commission.
The tourism business units being sold comprise a number of iconic South African tourism brands:
- Springbok Atlas Tours and Safaris, an inbound tour operator based in South Africa which focuses on consolidating and selling packaged tours to a wide range of international customers;
- Springbok Atlas Charter which operates a coach transportation business across South Africa and Namibia;
- Grosvernor Tours, an inbound tour operator which focuses on luxury tailor-made travel to Africa and includes group, incentives, events and conference services;
- Eastgate Safaris – a provider of a wide range of safaris, transfers and excursions in the northern Kruger National Park and surrounding areas and
- 74.9% of Silverton Travel (Pty) Ltd, trading as Edusport, a leading sports, events and incentives tour operator.
The purchase price will be settled by the issue of 81 818 181shares in Cullinan Holdings to Imperial Holdings. The 60 day VWAP for Cullinan is R1.26 per share. The transaction will result in Imperial Holdings acquiring approximately 10% of the shareholding of Cullinan Holdings.
CEO of Imperial group, Hubert Brody, commented as follows “The disposal of the tourism division is in line with our strategy of focusing on our core industries, namely logistics, car rental, automotive and industrial distribution and financial services. ”
Our tourism businesses are well known and well respected and we are delighted that Cullinan has recognised their value.”
“I would like to thank the team at Cullinan for their efforts in this transaction and wish them well with their latest acquisition and I hope the business grows from strength to strength under their leadership”, he added.
CEO of Cullinan Holdings, Michael Tollman, confirmed that the transaction had a number of key benefits for Cullinan Holdings.
“These travel businesses are an excellent fit for travel specialist Cullinan Holdings and we believe that these iconic brands will benefit from being part of the travel focused Cullinan Group.
Assuming current market conditions are upheld, these businesses will contribute to growth in profitability of the Cullinan Group in the future, and will allow for the expansion of our African footprint.
He added, “We are also delighted to have Imperial Holdings, one of South Africa’s premier companies, as a significant shareholder. It has been a pleasure working with the Imperial team over the past few months, and I would like to thank Hubert Brody and his team for their effort and assistance in ensuring the successful conclusion of this transaction.”
“From the Cullinan Holdings perspective, all travel businesses are managed and operated independently of each other within the group. As such the businesses being acquired will continue to be managed and operated independently by their respective management teams. Our initial plans are to upgrade the Springbok Atlas coach charter fleet and to migrate the Springbok Atlas Touring and Safaris business onto a new state of the art reservations system. These plans are in keeping with the philosophy of Cullinan Holdings to improve and grow its businesses, and to ensure a quality customer experience and the highest standards of service.”
“What is also very pleasing about this transaction is that Cullinan Holdings now has three major shareholders - the majority shareholder being The Travel Corporation, the highly successful and respected global travel and tourism group, and the two great and respected South African companies, Bidvest and Imperial.”
“We would like to extend our thanks to Imperial for the faith and confidence that they have shown in Cullinan Holdings and it’s team in the conclusion of this transaction, and we also look forward to working with the highly experienced management teams of Springbok Atlas Tours and Safaris, Springbok Atlas Charter, Grosvenor Tours, Eastgate Safaris and Edusport Tours Pty Ltd and ensuring their continued success and growth”.
ENDS
Notes to editors
About Imperial
Imperial is a diversified industrial services and retail group with activities spanning logistics; car rental; tourism; financial services; vehicle distribution and retail; automotive parts and industrial products distribution.
Imperial employs approximately 50,000 people, who are responsible for the growth and continued success of a group that began as a motor dealership in downtown Johannesburg in 1948.
• The group is a leading third-party logistics provider in southern Africa
• Operates from more than 968 locations in 14 countries
• Owns and has access to more than 7,500 trucks
• Provides product handling and storage in facilities exceeding 750,000m2
• Has access to 740 vessels in Europe with the regions’s biggest fleet of subcontracted inland water vessels
• Transports over 95 million tonnes per annum and having approximately 20,000,000m2 of storage capacity in Europe
• Has over 250 new and used vehicle dealerships
Distributed by Brunswick SA Limited on behalf of Imperial Holdings and Cullinan
