Company news in brief

Sanlam seals deal for Morocco's SAHAMSouth Africa's biggest insurer Sanlam has sealed a US$1.1 billion deal to acquire the remaining 53.37% stake in Moroccan insurance firm SAHAM Finances after receiving regulatory approvals.SAHAM Finances is Sanlam's biggest acquisition yet, and expands its presence to 33 countries across Africa. The conclusion of the deal cements its presence in north Africa.Sanlam Emerging Markets Ireland Ltd (SEMIL), a unit of Sanlam in a joint-venture with South African insurer Santam Ltd, had acquired a 30% stake in SAHAM Finances in 2016. The joint-venture unit increased its stake to 46.6% the following year.Since its establishment in Morocco in 1995 as a subsidiary of SAHAM Group, which also owns health, food and distribution interests, SAHAM Finances has expanded rapidly.It had consolidated net assets worth US$850 million and earnings of US$77.4 million for the year by the end of last year. – Nampa/ReutersTiger Brands re-opens processing facilityTiger Brands said on Friday it had re-opened a facility that was closed after South Africa's biggest food producer was implicated in the world's largest outbreak of listeria which killed more that 200 people.The health department recalled processed meat products known as "polony" and closed some processing facilities after the source of the outbreak was traced to a factory owned by Tiger Brands unit Enterprise Foods in March.The incident prompted the company to suspend production at its Polokwane and Germiston facilities which produce polony and other cold meats and resulted in a class action lawsuit filed against the company.Tiger Brands said production of its ready-to-cook products including bacon and frozen sausages is expected to begin on Friday at its Germinston processing facility, east of Johannesburg, after the municipal health department gave it the go-ahead.The firm said it was continuing refurbishments at Polokwane which it expects to complete early next month.Tiger Brands has shed more than a third of its market value, some R28.4 billion, since it was implicated in the listeria outbreak on March 4. – Nampa/ReutersAngola could partially list SonangolAngola, Africa's second largest crude producer, could partially list state oil company Sonangol, a spokesman for the ministry of mineral resources and oil said.This follows comments by mineral resources and oil minister Diamantino Azevedo, reported by state newspaper Jornal de Angola, that any partial listing would only occur after June next year when a restructuring of the company is complete.Meanwhile, Iraq's oil ministry has signed a contract with Sonangol that will see it drill 10 wells in the Qayara oilfield near Mosul in northern Iraq.The agreement was signed between Sonangol and the Iraqi Drilling Company, which is run by the ministry. – Nampa/ReutersArcelorMittal to sell assets to Liberty HouseArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer, has struck a deal to sell its steelmaking facilities in the Czech Republic, Romania, Macedonia and Italy to Liberty House, it said on Friday.The sales satisfy part of an agreement with the European Commission related to ArcelorMittal's acquisition of Italian steelmaker Ilva.The Commission approved the bid for Europe's biggest steel plant by capacity in May after ArcelorMittal pledged to sell a string of businesses across Europe to address competition concerns.ArcelorMittal said talks were ongoing for the sale of ArcelorMittal Dudelange in Luxembourg and several finishing lines in Liege, Belgium, which were the other assets included in the agreement with the European Commission.The steel giant said that the closing of the deal with Liberty House, a metals and industrial group with operations covering more than 30 countries, was subject to completion of the Ilva acquisition. – Nampa/ReutersApple gets critical iPhone technologyApple Inc is taking control over the power-management technology at the heart of its iPhones in a US$600 million deal with Dialog Semiconductor that also secures the German-listed company's role as a supplier to the US tech giant.The agreement to license technology and take on people from the Anglo-German chip designer is not only unusual, but also the largest of its kind by Apple, whose last sizeable acquisition was the US$350 million purchase of Face ID creator PrimeSense in 2013.Dialog chief executive Jalal Bagherli told Reuters he could now lead a "managed, smooth" transformation of the business as Dialog seeks new opportunities in areas such as the Internet of Things that includes connected devices like home speakers, fitness trackers or smart watches.Since the first iPhones a decade ago, Apple has used Dialog power-management chips to extend their battery life. Under the deal, Apple is buying patents, taking on a 300-strong engineering team, most of whom already worked on chips for Apple devices, and Dialog offices in Britain, Italy and Germany.Dialog said its 2018 revenue would not be affected and it would continue shipments of existing main power management integrated circuits (PMICs) to Apple. It expects to sell current and future generations of so-called sub-PMICs to Apple. – Nampa/Reuters

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