Business Report writes that asset management firm Anchor Capital has called for power utility Eskom to enter a “negotiated” business rescue process and for there to be a partial listing of its business to ensure its financial sustainability.
Anchor’s Nolan Wapenaar said on Friday that a controlled default of Eskom on its debts was the most appropriate tool for restructuring the business. “An Eskom default does not mean the lights go out and that it ceases to exist. Instead, it is put under curatorship with a view towards restructuring its operations, payroll and balance sheet structures,” Wapenaar indicated. He went on to say: “Under such a business rescue scenario it would be essential to ensure that suppliers continue to be paid on time, while the business is being fixed. This is a remarkably similar exercise to that which was undertaken for African Bank, just on a far grander scale. We are advocating that Eskom undergoes a negotiated business rescue.” The utility's financial and functional failures are widely seen as the biggest single risk to the SA economy. It wants the regulator to allow it to hike tariffs by 15% a year over the next three years and has warned that its debt will reach R600-billion should it fail to implement its proposals.
- Read Kabelo Khumalo’s report on the above story in full at Business Report
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