Scorpion+tracks+lucrative+business+deals+-+Ngcuka+in+S+Times






 * //Same determination but a new purpose//**

=Former Scorpions boss now tracks down lucrative business deals, writes Bobby Jordan=

Sunday Times, Johannesburg, Business, 26 February 2006
BULELANI Ngcuka, veteran lawyer, political prisoner, national prosecutions chief and smear-campaign survivor, may be out of the political limelight but he’s certainly raising eyebrows in business circles.

His transformation from high-profile activist to deal-maker and kingpin of black economic empowerment began little more than a year ago when he was appointed executive chairman of Amabubesi Investment Holdings.

In an interview in November 2004, the former National Director of Public Prosecutions told Business Times: “We have given ourselves 18 months to become a major player in the economy.”

While perhaps not yet at that level, Amabubesi has pursued an eccentric investment strategy that earlier this month saw the consortia take a 31% stake in Lancewood Cheese, near George.

“Agriculture and the food sector has also become our focus area,” Ngcuka said.

Drugs, too, form part of the Amabubesi empire. This month the group, along with other black economic empowerment consortiums, acquired 90million shares in Enaleni Pharmaceuticals for R270-million.

Enaleni is the second-largest tenderer for government pharmaceutical contracts and is the third-largest supplier, by volume, of generic drugs to the private market.

This week Amabubesi announced it had acquired a 36% interest for an undisclosed amount in East London IT company ELCB Information Services.

The one-time prosecutor with a taste for ending political careers is now boss of a company that has a taste for just about everything, from dairy products to industrial cranes.

Commenting this week on his metamorphosis, Ngcuka said he felt comfortable in his new business role. “It was a relief to get out of a pressure-cooker job. Now I am able to give more opportunity to a number of people.

“But I enjoyed my time at the Scorpions. It is something that I will treasure all my life. I enjoyed it but I’m also glad I’m out of it.”

Amabubesi recently acquired stakes in JSE-listed companies Basil Read, GrowthPoint Properties and Pinnacle Technology Holdings. Its high-profile investments include a R1.1-billion luxury golf estate on the Garden Route and the province’s biggest shopping complex, outside Jeffreys Bay. (See accompanying story below)

“In the past, BEE companies took up passive shareholding in companies. Our business model does not follow that historical trend,” Amabubesi said on its website, describing its strategy.

“We actively participate in the businesses of our partners to ensure growth.”

Just two years after exposing the likes of Tony Yengeni and former deputy president Jacob Zuma, Ngcuka is now one of the country’s foremost wheeler-dealers.

Unlike his former political foes, however, it’s so far so good for Ngcuka, give or take a controversial shopping trip with his wife, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Foreign travel aside, Ngcuka’s business activities have attracted mostly praise from both the public and the private sector.

He is a sought-after empowerment business partner and was appointed last year as chairman of V&A Waterfront Holdings in Cape Town.

His focus now is on the Eastern Cape, where he was born in 1954, and where he has vowed to invest millions of rands.

Ngcuka has targeted two major investment projects in the province: a housing development near East London and an agricultural development near his home town of Middledrift.

The investments are a major boost for the Eastern Cape economy. They are among several recent deals that make Amabubesi&apos;s investment portfolio almost as diverse as Ngcuka’s CV.

Right now the portfolio comprises healthcare, infrastructure and property, transport and logistics, technology, media, leisure and tourism, broking and, of course, cheese.

Old Mutual, which holds a 20% stake in Amabubesi, has made investment funds available for further acquisitions.

Commenting on the partnership, Old Mutual SA managing director Roddy Sparks said he was delighted with the progress made so far.

“We invested in Amabubesi because we have great faith in the capabilities and vision of the company’s management. We are constantly looking at, and evaluating opportunities arising from, the funding of black economic empowerment deals.

“Amabubesi has a strong leadership team, sound investment philosophies and a good track record in terms of deals executed. We’re confident that our investment will result in good returns,” Sparks said.

In its mission statement, Amabubesi prides itself on the connections made by its founders.

“Most businesses interface with the government at all levels, either for business or to influence strategic thinking. Our association with decision-makers at the highest level enables us to influence strategic decisions in our country.”

Ngcuka is ideally made for his role.

Imprisoned for treason against the apartheid state, he subsequently played a leading role in Codesa and the multiparty negotiations that it brought about.

In 1998 he was appointed head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

He quickly allayed fears that he would be a lapdog of the ruling party by investigating the likes of Yengeni and Zuma — at the time both linked to the country’s controversial arms deal.

Following counter-allegations that he had been an apartheid-era spy, Ngcuka was investigated, and cleared, by a commission of inquiry instituted by President Thabo Mbeki.

He resigned from the NPA to pursue private business interests, central to which is Amabubesi.


 * From: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/articles/article-business.aspx?ID=ST6A168641**



=Amabubesi’s best friends=

Sunday Times, Business, Johannesburg, 26 February 2006
AMABUBESI’S business partners are listed as security company Stallion Holdings, MediPost Pharmacy, City Couriers, Bayview Hospital, The Lakes Eco Golf Estate, Southnet, Consolidated African Technologies, Communicom Technologies and Edwil Property.

Significant investments by Amabubesi over the past two years include a R1.2-billion commercial and residential development outside Jeffreys Bay, a 30% interest in an abalone farm in the Eastern Cape, and an undisclosed stake in Circle Rail, a supplier to the rail industry.

Amabubesi’s most prominent association is perhaps the one it has with JSE-listed Basil Read.

French multinational Bouygues this year sold most of its holdings in Basil Read to a consortium made up of Amabubesi Investments and Metallon Ventures. The consortium now holds 51.4% of Basil Read. Bouygues remains a major partner of the Bombela International Consortium that was given the go-ahead for the construction of the Gautrain rapid rail link.

Basil Read will also benefit from the major infrastructure programme initiated by the government.


 * From: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/articles/article-business.aspx?ID=ST6A169109**

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