Moribund mining legend, BCL, which has been under liquidation, has its assets to be taken away by a steel company Sherashiya Proprietary Limited. Sherashiya is incorporated in accordance with the Laws of Botswana and it produces industrial steel products and exports them.
The business assets which will be acquired by Sherashiya are owned by BCL and were used in the Selebi Mine, more particularly the property, slag, tailings, mining and processing assets from its mining and smelting facility as situated on the BCL lease area.
BCL, after being in liquidation in 2016, is currently ran by care and maintenance which produces nickel-copper-cobalt group metals (Ni-Cu-Co). When operational the minerals were shipped to Selebi-Phikwe to be smelted into a high-grade sulphide matte, containing nickel, copper and cobalt, and were then exported to international markets.
The mine has been sold in parts like Sherashiya is targeting BCL steel business as the miner also directly controls Pula Steel and Casting Manufactures Proprietary Limited, which is currently under liquidation. Among other business that is controlled by BCL is BCL Investments Proprietary Limited and Tati Nickel Mining Company Proprietary Limited which is also under liquidation. In its business portfolio is the BCL hospital which was used healthcare services to the BCL employees and the local community.
Sherashiya has submitted a bid to Competition and Consumer Authority (CCA) this week and notified the antitrust body its intentions of taking over BCL steel business. The Authority’s Director, Mergers and Monopolies is currently looking into protection of Section 50 (3) of the Competition Act 2018, which states, “any person, including a third party not a party to the proposed merger, may voluntarily submit to the investigator or the Authority any document, affidavit, statement or other relevant information in respect of a proposed merger.”
Meanwhile, the Authority therefore seeks any stakeholder views for or against the proposed merger, which may be sent within 10 days to CCA. According to CCA notice shared with this publication, it is looking for the antitrust possibility in the Acquiring Enterprise (Sherashiya) which Enterprise is a steel works company that produces industrial steel products and exports them.
“Sherashiya controls a steel plant in Selebi-Phikwe previously owned by Pula Steel and Casting Manufacturing Proprietary Limited. The plant is currently used to manufacture steel billets from steel scrap and shall provide for the subsequent conversion of the billets into end products including angle irons, round bars, man-hole covers, pots, fencing products and other products in the near future,” announced CCA notice.
According to CCA, the shareholders of Sherashiya are Ramesh Lavji Sherashiya, Punitkumar Mohanlal Chovatiya, Gopalkrishna Hebbar, Vasantben Rameshbhai Sherashiya, Navin Mohanbhai Chovatiya, Jaykishan Rameshbhai Sherasiya, Kirit Dayalal Nandasana (all Indians).
The Acquiring
The Directors of Sherashiya are Ramesh Lavji Sherashiya and Gopalkrishna Hebbar (both Indians)
