The penning of this note happily coincided with news that Aimia Inc — which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange — has secured a listing on the JSE.
Aimia, to be frank, is a strange beast, comprising three main investments in the form of a 94% stake in the Bozzetto Group, 100% of Cortland International and a 10.5% stake in China-based Clear Media. Bozzetto is in the chemicals business, Cortland is in the distinctly Shakespearean-sounding business of “ropes, slings and tethers” and Clear Media is an outdoor advertising specialist.
While none of the investments has an obvious link to South Africa, Aimia chair Rhys Summerton has some strong connections in the form of investments in Argent Industrial and iOCO. Older readers will also remember Summerton’s association with Pennystock Investments, which was briefly listed on the JSE in the late 1990s.
Summerton says the JSE listing is aimed at enhancing shareholder value, allowing Aimia to enhance liquidity and to qualify for potential investments by local pension funds.
More intriguing is Summerton’s admission that the JSE listing will also “facilitate our plans to acquire controlling interests in public companies”. What’s more, Aimia plans to explore listing opportunities on other bourses with the goals of driving increased outreach to global investors and achieving a better valuation.
The acquisition reference obviously raises an eyebrow. Surely Aimia wouldn’t be looking to take out minority shareholders in iOCO or Argent?
Then again, there are any number of low-valued opportunities on the JSE that could easily slot into an investment vehicle as diversified as Aimia.
In truth, Aimia is not a huge play, with a current market value of C$301m (about R3.5bn). But on the industrial front there are neglected or tarnished counters such as South Ocean Holdings, Deneb, Trellidor or Insimbi.
At last count, Aimia had $106.5m in cash — $47m in the holdings segment and the balance in Bozzetto and Cortland.
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