VIDEO: SARU Equity - the fringe players

12/19/2024 08:31 AM

With the South African Rugby Union's cherry-picked equity partner, Ackerley Sports Group/Win-by-1, still umming and aahing a bit, the alternatives are ramping up their own campaigns.

Johann Rupert's Remgro is tabling one alternative (nothing will be formal until the SARU exclusivity period with ASG/Win-by-1 expires on December 31), while the Marco V Masotti-headed MVM Holdings will also support an equity deal 'that makes sense'.

All this will play out in January, but in the meantime, the South African-led consortium, Altvest Capital, is hoping to get a seat at the tabled.

As Altvest Chief Investment Officer Warren Wheatley told @rugby365com, the consortium is committed to broad-based ownership of the Springbok brand for all South Africans.

They are escorted by some 'strategic partners' - like 27four, EasyEquities and RainFin.

Having formally submitted their Expression of Interest to SARU, Altvest also has to play a waiting game for at least the next 10 days.

@king365ed sat down with the Altvest boss, Wheatley, to dive deeper into their 'offer' and more particularly the strategic partners.

Altvest Capital, a listed company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, heads the consortium.

"Our ethos is to fund SMEs [small and medium enterprises] and we bring bespoke investment opportunities to ordinary people," he told @rugby365com.

"That would allow ordinary South Africans to invest in things that are reserved for those ultra-high-net-worth investors."

He added that they have a track record of similar investments and it is not just a 'pie in the sky' idea.

Also tagging along is Easy Equities, a company that has built a platform that allows any South African with disposable income to invest and create wealth.

"They can bring this opportunity to millions of South Africans, if it ever happens," Wheatley said.

Another consortium member is 27four, an independent provider of multi-manager investment solutions.

"They provide an opportunity for the 'smaller' players to get into the game and not just the big asset management companies that come in and swoop up everything.

"We have capital providers and asset managers that could do this deal, but were excluded. Now 27four can solve that issue."

The last piece in the Altvest puzzle is RainFin, which brings the "glamour and flair".

"They do something we call 'tokenization' - a crypto asset.

"It will be listed on crypto and exchanges around the world."

Wheatley said they all share the same ideas and philosophy, that South Africans should be allowed to participate in this SARU equity deal.

"Having said that, we are open to the Groot Schalks, Mr Ruperts [Remgro] and Mr [Stephen] Saads [Sharks/MVM].

"We could benefit from their participation.

"Ours is not a 'winner takes all' scenario. We just want a portion of a deal to be set aside for the fans, players, staff and ordinary South Africans who love the brand and the team."

@king365ed
@rugby365com

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