Company News in Brief

Saudi's R23bn offer for Barloworld gets the nod from advisorsBarloworld shareholders should accept a takeover offer for the Caterpillar-equipment distribution business in Africa because it’s a good deal, according to recommendations by two proxy advisory companies.The offer by a unit of Saudi Arabia’s Zahid Group and local partners for R120 per share, or R23 billion, is fair value, according to Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. The proxy companies said they also took into consideration independent due diligence by Rothschild & Co., which estimated the stock is worth between R105.53 and R119.43 per share."This proposal offers shareholders an attractive opportunity to exit the stock at a reasonable cash premium," San Francisco-based Glass Lewis recommended in a note. Separately, ISS said "the offer is at an attractive premium." The two companies didn’t comment further on emailed queries by the time of writing. London-based investor Silchester International Investors — which holds close to 18% of the company — has said it will reject any price below R130 a share. Barloworld has scheduled a final shareholder meeting on the deal for February 26 and needs backing from 75% of its investors to push the current offer through. Zahid’s Gulf Falcon Holding and Entsha, an entity linked to Barloworld Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sewela, announced the offer in December. At the time, the bid was a 30% premium on the day’s closing price. The Saudi group started accumulating shares five years ago and holds a 19% stake.-FIN24 Standard Bank expects to see some rand recovery this year, but only one more rate cutStandard Bank, Africa's largest lender by assets, expects only one more rate cut in 2025 but says the rand has room to advance to below R18/$ by next year.Goolam Ballim, Standard Bank's chief economist, unveiled the group's macroeconomic forecasts in Johannesburg on Tuesday, saying he expected the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) to make one more 25 basis point rate cut this year while the economy would grow 1.8%, up from an expected 0.7% in 2024.He added that the rand would likely average around R18.20/$ in 2025 before strengthening to R17.68/$ in 2026. Standard Bank expects inflation to average 4% in 2025, down from 4.4% in 2024."There's a possibility of one more quarter-point rate cut," said Ballim, adding that, along with easing inflation, it would make for better financial accessibility and provide "another leg" for household spending.-FIN24 US to impose 25% tariff on steel, aluminium imports The US will move to impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports this week, President Donald Trump said Sunday, the latest in a slew of trade levies he has announced. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the tariffs, which he will announce on Monday, will apply to "any steel coming into the United States," adding this will also affect aluminium. Trump imposed similar tariffs during his 2017-2021 presidency to protect US industries, which he believed faced unfair competition from Asian and European countries. — AFP.

Company News in Brief

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