{"id":4490,"date":"2016-05-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amabhungane.org\/amabhungane\/stories\/guptas-sue-for-27-5-of-independent-media\/"},"modified":"2016-05-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-15T00:00:00","slug":"guptas-sue-for-27-5-of-independent-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/guptas-sue-for-27-5-of-independent-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Guptas sue for 27.5% of Independent Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Picture: Iqbal\u00a0<\/em>Survee –\u00a0David Harrison, M&G<\/em><\/p>\n

The Gupta family is \u201cfighting tooth and nail\u201d for a\u00a0large stake in Independent Media, South Africa\u2019soldest and one of its most prominent\u00a0newspaper companies.<\/p>\n

The dispute centres on a pact thatthe company\u2019s chairperson, IqbalSurvee, made with the Guptas in2012, when a consortium he led\u00a0was negotiating to buy thenewspaper group.<\/p>\n

Surve conditionally offeredthe Guptas a stake that wouldhave amounted to 27.5% of theIndependent group.<\/p>\n

Under the agreement, the\u00a0Guptas would also have appointedIndependent\u2019s top managers, wellplaced sources told amaBhungane.<\/p>\n

But the deal was not\u00a0consummated and for the better\u00a0part of three years, the Guptas\u00a0and Surve have been locked in a dispute thatincluded a protracted secret arbitration process.<\/p>\n

The fight has now moved to the North GautengHigh Court, where Oakbay Investments \u2013 the Guptafamily\u2019s holding company \u2013 is suing Surve, acompany in the Sekunjalo group and an accountantlinked to the arbitration.<\/p>\n

The Gupta family, which has been publicly\u00a0accused of abusing its relationship with PresidentJacob Zuma, already owns The New Age <\/em>newspapergroup and TV station ANN7.<\/p>\n

“<\/em><\/strong>A company in the Sekunjalo group has been engaged in a protracted legal battle with Oakbay Investments”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2012, Surve and his Sekunjalo group led abroad-based consortium that bought Independent\u00a0from its Irish owners for R2-billion.<\/p>\n

The deal was supported by the Public\u00a0Investment Corporation, which\u00a0 said in Parliament this week<\/a> that it\u00a0committed R888-million on thepremise that the new, black\u00a0owners would attract a biggershare of state advertising.<\/p>\n

But, according to theinvestment corporation\u2019spresentation to MPs: \u201cThis\u00a0increased spen[d] by government[has] not materialised yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Companies linked to theChinese government also took a20% stake in the newspaper group.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0 political nature of the\u00a0transaction sparked public controversy,<\/a> but whatwas not known at the time was that Surve gave theGuptas\u2019 Oakbay a conditional option to take half ofhis consortium\u2019s 55% stake in the newspaper house.<\/p>\n

What value the Guptas brought in return for theiroption is unclear.<\/p>\n

This week, Surve\u2019s lawyer Adam Ismail confirmedthe dispute, saying: \u201cA company in the Sekunjalogroup has been engaged in a protracted legal battlewith Oakbay Investments.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Surve and the Sekunjalo group are of the emphatic view that Oakbay Investments has no legal right to any shares in the Independent Media”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ismail said the arbitration was \u201cbut one chapterin a legal tussle spanning almost three years now\u201d.<\/p>\n

A number of sources told amaBhungane that Surve had lost a first round of arbitration.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Ismail said: \u201cSurve and the Sekunjalogroup are of the emphatic view that OakbayInvestments has no legal right to any shares in theIndependent Media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legal battle continues, having now moved tothe high court. As the matter is sub judice at thisstage, Dr Surve does not want to say too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ismail declined to share the court papers orreveal further details.<\/p>\n

At court, amaBhungane was able to identify a 2015case in which Oakbay Investments is suing \u201cFirer, S\u201dand three others, but the file could not be found.<\/p>\n

Steven Firer, an accountant with audit firm Nkonki,confirmed that it was him but said that he \u201ccannotgive details until the court issues are dealt with\u201d.<\/p>\n

Several sources agreed that the other defendantsincluded Surve and a Sekunjalo group company.<\/p>\n

“Expert witness and consultant”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Firer\u2019s LinkedIn profile<\/a> describes him as\u00a0an \u201cexpert witness and consultant in commercialdisputes, particularly those involving issues ofapplication of International Financial ReportingStandards and International Standards on Auditing,valuations and financial analysis\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is understood that he played a role in theOakbay-Sekunjalo arbitration, helping to assess whatthe Guptas should pay for their would-be stake.<\/p>\n

It is understood that Oakbay is now suing Firerbecause it argues his valuation was much too high.<\/p>\n

AmaBhungane\u2019s sources said that, as a majorshareholder, the Public Investment Corporation thismonth told those involved that it did not favour theGuptas\u2019 attempts to grab part of Independent. Itsspokesperson Sekgoela Sekgoela declined to comment.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Surve told Bloomberg<\/a> that theinvestment corporation said it \u201cwon\u2019t allow\u201d theGuptas a stake in Independent.<\/p>\n

Ismail said: \u201cDr Surve also wishes to make itclear that Oakbay and the Gupta family providedno assistance [financial or otherwise] whatsoever inthe acquisition of Independent Media.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr Surve does wish to point out that OakbayInvestments was also a bidder for the IndependentMedia when it was up for sale in 2012\/2013and that such bid by Oakbay was unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr Surve also wishes to point out that theSekunjalo Group has no other business dealingswith Oakbay or the Gupta family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oakbay spokesperson Yolanda Zondo said: \u201cWeare not able to comment on this matter as doing sowould be in breach of a confidentiality agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\nThe amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism produced this story. Like it? Be an amaB supporter<\/a> and help us do more. Know more? Send us <\/em>a tip-off.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Guptas are now legally fighting for a large stake in Independent Media due to a 2012 pact made between them and the company’s chair, Iqbal Surve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/further.co.za\/amabwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}