Datatec shareholders are in line for a special cash dividend totalling R4.9bn following the Johannesburg- and London-listed IT group’s sale of its Westcon Americas unit.
The group said on Wednesday that is has declared a special dividend of R23 per ordinary share. The record date to be eligible for the payout is 12 January 2018.
Shareholders are entitled, in respect of all or a part of their shareholding, to elect to receive a scrip distribution of fully paid capitalisation shares instead of the cash dividend, Datatec said. However, a maximum of 63.6m shares will be made available through the scrip distribution option.
The dividend payment will attract 20% withholding tax under South African law, resulting in a net cash dividend for South African taxpayers of R18.40/share.
New shares issued in terms of the scrip distribution will be settled through the capitalisation of Datatec’s distributable retained profits.
“To the extent that the full cash dividend is not paid as a result of shareholders electing the scrip distribution alternative, the board intends to use the full undistributed cash amount to undertake a general buyback of shares through the market…”
Meanwhile, Datatec said it is proceeding with a previously announced plan to delist its shares from London’s Alternative Investment Market. This will happen on 8 December. Those shareholders will, however, be eligible for the cash dividend, or scrip distribution option, it said. — (c) 2017 NewsCentral Media