Latest news with #R31m
IOL News
16-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Tiger Brands secures future for 3 000 farm workers with sale of Langeberg fruit business
Workers at fruit business Langeberg & Ashton Foods (LAF), a division of Tiger Consumer Brands Image: Langeberg & Ashton Foods/YouTube Tiger Brands has firmed the future of 3 000 farm workers through its plan to sell its Langeberg & Ashton Foods (LAF) deciduous fruit business for R1 to a consortium of fruit growers, a community trust, and a development finance institution. The deal will secure a future for permanent and seasonal staff who have faced uncertainty after Tiger Brands announced in 2022 that it wished to sell LAF. The deal will also benefit the farmers - the Ashton Fruit Producers Co-operative is made up of producers from Robertson, Ceres, Breederivier, and Klein Karoo. In 2022, Tiger Brands had announced it wished to sell LAF, and options to ensure the viability and sustainability of LAF would also be revisited so that the business could be exited responsibly, given its economic importance in the region. Tiger Brands is exiting LAF because the fruit company's products are exported to Europe and Asia, which are outside Tiger Brands' markets. Also, the seasonal nature of the LAF business meant its average working capital requirements were high at about R900 million a year, and the unwinding of this capital will optimise Tiger Brands' operating cash flow. Tiger Brands' subsidiary Tiger Consumer Brands will sell LAF as a going concern for R1 cash to a newly formed company established by the purchasing consortium, a statement said Friday. Tiger Consumer Brands will also commit R150 million towards the establishment of a Community Trust aimed at socio-economic development initiatives benefiting the broader Langeberg community. The R150 million commitment will enable the Community Trust to hold a 10% stake in LAF, with the consortium retaining the balance of the equity. Tiger Brands said it will also commit to a R31m effluent plant upgrade so that LAF can continue to adhere to environmental regulations. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The LAF business produces canned fruit and purees for export markets (greater than 80% of the business), and locally, it supplies the Tiger Brands Culinary Business Unit. The manufacturing site is based in Ashton in the Langeberg municipality of the Western Cape. 'The success of this transaction will ensure the sustainability of the deciduous fruit industry of South Africa and consequentially improve the livelihoods of the LAF employees and the broader communities in these areas,' Tiger's management said in a statement. Earlier this month, Tiger Brands said its results for the six months to March 31 will display momentum on its turnaround strategy, delivering 'compelling operating profit improvement' and halting years of underlying volume decline in a majority of the Business Units. In addition, its portfolio optimisation initiatives were also expected to drive earnings growth, with the completion of the Baby Wellbeing disposal and Carozzi equity stake sale. Headline earnings a share from total operations were expected to be between 15% and 25% higher than the 808 cents reported in the first half of 2024. Recently, Tiger Brands and plaintiffs' attorneys in the listeriosis litigation reached an agreement to provide interim relief to certain claimants with urgent needs by way of interim advance payments, made possible by the company's lead reinsurer, QBE Insurance Group. Visit:
IOL News
16-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Tiger Brands exits deciduous canned fruit business, establishing R150 million community trust
JSE-listed Tiger Brands has exited its deciduous canned fruit business five years after it said it could do so for R1 while also setting up a R150 million community trust to benefit the Langeberg community. Image: Tiger Brands/Facebook JSE-listed Tiger Brands has exited its deciduous canned fruit business five years after it said it could do so for R1 while also setting up a R150 million community trust to benefit the Langeberg community. In a statement, the company, said this deal would ensure 'a sustainable business' and protect 'over 3 000 permanent and seasonal jobs'. Langeberg and Ashton Foods was founded in 1940, and its products are sold into the retail market under the Koo, Gold Reef and Silverleaf labels. Tiger Brands will also complete an effluent plant upgrade with a further investment of R31m to ensure 'the operations continue to adhere to environmental regulations'. Tiger Brands CEO, Tjaart Kruger, said on Friday that the sale followed 'an extensive search for a viable buyer over the last five years'. Noting that the deal is in the best interests of all stakeholders, he said that the 'success of this sale will ensure the sustainability of the South African deciduous fruit industry and consequently improve the livelihoods of the Langeberg and Ashton Foods employees and the broader communities in these areas'. Tiger Brands, South Africa's largest food company, made this announcement just days after it said it would settle a class action lawsuit that was the result of a Listeria outbreak in January 2017, which was traced back to an Enterprise Foods factory. The value of the disclosure was not announced, Its disposal of the deciduous canned fruit business, Langeberg and Ashton Foods, is to 'a capable and committed consortium comprised of parties with a vested interest in the sustainability of Langeberg and Ashton Foods and a cooperative of fruit growers in the Ashton area,' it said. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The unit, located 180km east of Cape Town, provides employment to more than 3 000 permanent and seasonal employees and 'is an important contributor to the region's economy,' said the company. Tiger Brands said that the consortium buying the company was made up of Ashton Fruit Producers Co-operative as well as an unnamed development finance institution. The Ashton Fruit Producers Co-operative, established in 2020, is made up of member producers from the Robertson, Ceres, Breederivier and Klein Karoo areas. The deal is set to benefit the broader Langeberg community through socio-economic development initiatives, and the Community Trust will ultimately hold a beneficial interest equal to 10% in the new company. Langeberg Municipality, previously known as the Breede River/Winelands Municipality, is home to around 100 000 people. 'Tiger Brands has been part of the Langeberg region and its communities for many decades. The establishment of the Community Trust is a notable milestone for the region, as Tiger Brands remains committed to the distribution of social and economic benefits to the community of Langeberg, long after our exit. This contribution is aligned with our purpose to nourish and nurture more lives every day,' said Kruger. Anthony Dicey, Chairman of The Ashton Fruit Producers Co-operative, noted that the canning factory had become 'integrated into the community and the local fruit growers that supply it'. The agreement is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed within the second half of this year. IOL
