Robert Gumede’s Vision Group and South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation sealed a binding rescue agreement for Tongaat Hulett on Wednesday, averting the liquidation of the 134-year-old sugar producer on the same day a winding-up application was due to be heard in the Durban High Court.
Tongaat Hulett’s business rescue practitioners formally withdrew the liquidation application once the tripartite agreement between the practitioners, the IDC and Vision Group was concluded, ending months of uncertainty that had threatened thousands of jobs across South Africa’s sugar-growing regions.
Under the agreement, the IDC will become a significant shareholder in Vision-operated businesses spanning South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique…