Metair is disposing of its interests in Turkey to Quexco, a United States company with investments in energy, lubricants and related materials sector for R1.9 billion.
The disposal of Metair Türkiye will enable the JSE listed company to primarily focus on its automotive component manufacturing business focused on South Africa.
The remaining business will be strategically focused on being a key player in the Sub-Saharan African mobility sector, an industry Metair believes “has compelling macroeconomic tailwinds in the medium to long” term.
“The disposal and subsequent deleveraging will free-up capacity to focus on growth in the sector to drive value for shareholders,” said Metair.
As at the end of last year, Metair Türkiye’s net assets were valued at R2.9bn while the attributable loss in the compay for the same period amounted to R70.6mn.
Metair Türkiye forms part of Metair’s energy storage vertical and operates as the holding company of Metair’s Turkish operations.
These consist of Mutlu Holding Anonim Şirketi, Mutlu Akü ve Malzemeleri Sanayii Anonim Şirketi, Mutlu Plastik ve Ambalaj Sanayii Anonim Şirketi and Metair Gayrimenkul Proje Kiralama Anonim Şirketi.
The Mutlu Group manufactures and trades energy storage products and solutions, including lead acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries for use in mobility applications as well as in the telecoms, utility, mining and retail sectors among others.
Metair Investments said this month that it had made good progress on its stabilisation and turnaround strategy in the six months to June 30, despite volume decreases and high debt.
Major new projects undertaken in 2023 had been stabilised with subsidiary Hesto Harnesses demonstrating a strong operational recovery. Ongoing profitability improvement initiatives were expected to improve future earnings and support reduced debt gearing, the group said in an operational update this month.
BUSINESS REPORT