COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Teck rejects revised Glencore offerCanadian mining group Teck Resources said it has rejected a revised takeover bid from Swiss commodities giant Glencore, saying it is still not in Teck's best interest.Glencore's revised offer this week added US$8.2 billion to its original US$22.5 billion (R407 billion) bid.The group active in both commodity trading and mining said that combining its thermal coal activities with those of Teck's coking coal would create a leader in raw materials, generating strong cash flow.But Teck's board remained steadfastly opposed to the deal. Its chair Sheila Murray said in a statement, "Glencore has made two opportunistic and unrealistic proposals that would transfer significant value to Glencore at the expense of Teck shareholders."Teck's own plans to split into two entities, she added, would create "a significantly greater spectrum of opportunities to maximize value for Teck shareholders" and urged them to support this option as "the best pathway" forward.The Canadian group plans to separate its activities into two entities that would bring together metals used for the energy transition under the name of Teck Metals, and consolidate its steelmaking coal activities into an entity called Elk Valley Resources.-Fin24Nedbank sees pipeline of green energy projectsNedbank Group has increased its green finance pipeline to more than R10 billion as more South African businesses invest in private power generation after the government lifted restrictions to help resolve the country's energy crisis."There are very strong pipelines currently in our business and across the country for private sector generation - that is a very large growth sector in an otherwise challenging growth environment," Nedbank chief executive officer Mike Brown said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in Johannesburg."It is going to take probably two to three years before that connects to the grid and fixes the problem."President Cyril Ramaphosa scrapped a 100MW limit on embedded generation in July, allowing companies and households to produce electricity without a license to meet their own needs and sell to the grid.There's been exponential growth in private renewable energy projects that have been registered since. In 2021, 134MW of renewable energy projects were registered.-Fin24Sasol scrambles for gas and hydrogenSouth Africa’s second-biggest emitter aims to be among the continent’s biggest buyers of renewable energy — but for now Sasol remains firmly tied to fossil fuels.The company that made its name producing synthetic fuel and chemicals from coal, aims to reach net zero by 2050. That plan has been criticised as vague by activists and unrealistic by some analysts.OPEC’s recent surprise production cut may also spur some energy companies to revisit their green goals in light of higher oil prices, which largely determine the value of Sasol’s productsCurbing emissions will be an especially heavy lift for Sasol — its biggest plant produces more greenhouse gas than the global operations of oil companies BP or Marathon Petroleum. Chief Executive Officer Fleetwood Grobler said the company is committed to its green future; the company just needs profitability to get there.That starts with the dirtiest fossil fuel, which has been the company’s lifeblood since it was founded in 1950 and what has made its Secunda plant in central South Africa the world’s single most-polluting site.-Fin24Three ex-Absa employees jailedThree former Absa employees have been sentenced to 15 years in jail each for defrauding the JSE as well as mining company Samancor of R191 million, the National Prosecuting Authority said. The Mokopane Regional Court found that Dimakatso Prudence Ramakgole, Seatile Pauline Senoamadi and Motsiri Peter Ramahlarerwa were part of a syndicate that unlawfully transferred funds from the JSE and Samancor's bank accounts. Absa later had to pay back the JSE and the Samancor Foundation, which funds development projects in areas where Samancor operates. In a statement, the NPA said the three former employees replaced banking details linked to the JSE with their own. The syndicate made three large transfers of R2.9 million on 26 July 2019, R30 million on 12 August 2019, and R158 million on 23 September 2019. While the defence argued the trio had shown remorse and were first-time offenders, the NPA said the prosecution argued that a jail term was needed to deter would-be offenders.-Fin24

COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-01

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COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-01

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