Management and shareholders of Faritec remained locked in talks late on Wednesday as they sought to pull the JSE-listed IT group back from the brink.

The group is expected to publish details of a new rights offer in the next few days as it seeks to raise at least R60m to ensure it has sufficient working capital to tide it over.

Faritec’s controlling shareholder, Shoden Data Systems, has already said it will partially underwrite the new offer.

But it’s not yet clear whether Cornastone and J&J Group, Faritec’s second- and third-largest shareholders respectively, will take up their rights.

Chris Jardine (pictured), CEO of the J&J Group, which owns 8% of Faritec’s equity, declines to say whether J&J will also partially underwrite the offer.

Faritec announced on Tuesday that Jardine, who chairs the group’s board, was stepping down.

“Chris’s election not to seek reappointment follows his agreement last year to remain on the board for a period sufficient to assist the new management team,” the group says.

“He has made himself available to support the management team and the board in the conclusion of the current funding transaction.”

Jardine says that on the back of the dilution of J&J’s stake in Faritec, “our feeling was that with Shoden being the new controlling shareholder, they should have the right to choose a board and chairman”.

He declines to say whether J&J will underwrite the new rights offer, or even discuss J&J’s future involvement in Faritec, saying only that details will be announced in the “next few days”.

“It’s difficult to add anything while the company is trading under cautionary,” he says — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral