New Partnership to Run South African Agency

Bateleur Research Solutions has sold half its shares to the directors of Khanya Research Solutions. Bateleur helped establish Khanya only two years ago with the express intent of making the 50% transfer of ownership to a black shareholder, in line with the country's BEE initiative.

Pearl Thamaga and Yolanda Vilakazi, Directors of Khanya, paid an estimated R6 million and between them take half of Bateleur, an agency established in the late 1980s and with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg – the remainder is owned by FD Camelia Morar and co-founders Gordon Hooper and Alan Todd.

Hooper, quoted on bizcommunity.com, says the two new co-owners bring qualities including youth and 'a wealth of African insight' at a time when 'most of our competitors are 'selling out' to overseas agencies.' Todd says the company made the decision around two years ago to 'grasp the challenge of transferring our skills to previously disadvantaged South Africans as opposed to selling to rich black investors simply to ensure our company had the 'required pedigree' to go forth in compliance.' Khanya was launched in August 2004 but has thrived since Thamaga took over as MD a year later – she and Vilakazi have managed to 'prove Khanya's worth as a viable business'.

Both Vilakazi and Thamaga stress the tangible benefits of the arrangement in addition to the legal status of compliance with BEE (Black Economic Empowerment). 'We offer a different and extremely relevant dimension to the South African market' says Vilakazi. Thamaga adds: 'This new entity is all about African insights not simply BEE… It is important that it's also understood that… we [are] working together to better understand our own market in order to supply users with truly African insights.'

Bataleur is online at www.bateleurhq.co.za . Thanks to www.bizcommunity.com for much of the above.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.