Struggling steel product retailer Alert Steel's prospects were boosted on Thursday when it said that American company Cannistraro had bought a majority stake in it and would make an offer to buy out the rest.
Alert Steel has tried to restructure operations in the face of difficult market conditions, including poor demand for steel worldwide. The company has said it expects demand for its products to be subdued this year.
A broad based black economic empowerment deal also collapsed last year. This was after Nedbank gained the shares the BBBEE partner would have bought, and then sold them.
Mr Peter Dodson former CEO of Metcash CEO replaced Mr Johan du Toit as CEO in February.
However, the share price has collapsed 71% over the past year, from ZAR 373.58 on April 11 last year to ZAR 110 on Thursday. For the 12 months to June last year, Alert Steel made a loss of ZAR 73 million.
Cannistraro ran it as a plumbing shop and it later developed into a provider of heating, ventilation and air conditioning, fire protection and facilities maintenance services for large mechanical plants at hospitals, universities, laboratories and other facilities.