Innscor restructures SPAR

Published: 03 October 2013

Innscor Africa Limited, the expansive, cash-rich manufacturing and retail conglomerate, has completed the restructuring of its grocery division, SPAR, paving the way for a possible demerger and its separate listing on the domestic bourse.

A restructuring exercise wgich is seen as the first phase of a possible demerger and listing, has been completed.

The company has amalgamated SPAR's corporate store retail operations and the SPAR Distribution Centre in Harare.

In the process, Andrew Divaris has been appointed as the new chief executive officer of the reconfigured SPAR, taking over from Evan Christophides, who had been managing director for SPAR Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi since 2005.

Divaris had been the managing director of SPAR Zimbabwe corporate store retail division.

Contacted for comment, the group's corporate affairs executive, Musekiwa Kumbula, confirmed the development.

"Yes there is a new boss, Andrew Divaris, at the restructured SPAR," Kumbula said.

Innscor is planning to unbundle at least one unit under a long-proposed restructuring exercise that saw the unbundling of the crocodile business, Niloticus, which listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) at the end of 2011 as Padenga Holdings Limited.

Innscor board chairman, David Morgan, spelt out the ambitious project to shareholders, suggesting the de-merger could go beyond the crocodile business.

Since its listing in 1998 Innscor has "continually diversified into businesses which were able to fuel its growth in an economy which suffered from the effects of massive hyper-inflation," Morgan has said.

"This has led the group to having a significant number of differing businesses in its portfolio. Given the dramatic change to the macro-economic environment, the board feels that it is now the time for certain of its businesses to be restructured in order to give those businesses the specific focus and drive that they now require and which will result in sustainable long-term business models being built for each business," said Morgan.

Innscor executives and directors were seriously contemplating hiving off the SPAR division for a separate listing on the domestic bourse.

The group was said to be considering consolidating the SPAR franchise first before the possible listing.

To achieve this, group executives had suggested buying the SPAR license held by tycoon, Ray Kaukonde, for Zimbabwe's western region.

Divaris is now expected to drive this process.

Kaukonde took over control of the Western Region Spar Distribution Centre (Western Guild) in 2011 through his investment vehicle, Scotia Holdings, from ZSE-listed starafricacorporation limited, which held the Spar licence through Advance Wholesalers.

Advance Wholesalers held the Spar Zimbabwe license jointly with Spar Harare (Private) Limited, a unit controlled by Innscor, a fast moving consumer goods integrated chain with operations in Zimbabwe and the region.

Innscor owns, through Spar Harare, the Spar Eastern Region Distribution Centre (Eastern Guild).

The Spar Western Region had over 30 Spar supermarket outlets and corporate outlets at the time of Kaukonde's acquisition.

Corporate outlets are Spar supermarkets held directly by the licence holders.
- fingaz