Consortium Milco’s acquisition of listed foods and beverages group Clover Industries has been delayed and will no longer be finalised by Friday next week as previously anticipated, Clover said on Friday, 26 April 2019.

The deal, announced in February, will see the consortium, led by Tel Aviv-based Central Bottling Company, acquire the entire issued share capital of Clover for R25 per share.

However, investment company Brimstone caved in to pressure from pro-Palestine activist group Boycott Divestment Sanctions South Africa and exited the consortium. Brimstone is currently in negotiations with a potential replacement black economic empowerment (BEE) investor to take up its 15% in the consortium.  

Brimstone said earlier in April that it had sealed an agreement with MilCo and International Beer Breweries Limited (IBBL), a subsidiary of CBC, “to facilitate Brimstone’s exit from its participation in the Clover transaction”. IBBL had agreed to acquire Brimstone’s interest in Milco on December 31 if by that date Brimstone has not been able to secure the replacement BEE investor.

In a statement on Friday, Clover announced that the implementation of the deal would not take place on the dates suggested in a circular to shareholders about the transaction. “In particular, the anticipated finalisation date of May 3 2019 will be delayed,” Clover said.

Clover said it would announce new dates for the implementation of the transaction at a later stage.

The deal is still subject to the approval of competition authorities.