One of the JSE’s longest-surviving technology companies is no more: Ellies Holdings will be wound up and shut down, it said on Wednesday.
This comes after the business was placed into voluntary business rescue in January when a planned acquisition of Bundu Power, which it had hoped would put it on a firmer footing financially, fell through.
That deal was subject to debt funding from Ellies’ bankers and the approval of shareholders. The bankers advised Ellies that they were not prepared to fund the acquisition, imperilling the turnaround plan and sending the company’s shares crashing to 1c, the lowest they can trade.
Ellies Electronics was founded in 1979 by the late Elliot (“Ellie”) Salkow, who passed away in 2021. He initially operated from his garage and sold aerials from the boot of his car. The storied history ended abruptly on Wednesday with the news that the business would close.
Read: Remembering Ellie Salkow, a pioneer in SA broadcasting
“The business rescue practitioner has concluded that there is no reasonable prospect of the company being rescued, and therefore, in accordance with section 141(2)(a)(ii) of the Companies Act, application will be made to the court for an order discontinuing the business rescue proceedings and placing the company into liquidation,” it said in a brief statement on the JSE’s stock exchange news service. – (c) 2024 NewsCentral Media