Empowerment Company Gets 25 Percent of Vickers OMC [Pretoria, 2002-03-26]

Publication: Issued: Pretoria Date: 2002-03-26 Reporter: Sapa Editor:

Empowerment Company Gets 25 Percent of Vickers OMC

Issued	Pretoria
Date	2002-03-26
Reporter	Sapa

A black empowerment company has obtained a 25 percent stake in the British company Vickers Defence Systems' South African armoured vehicle business.

The local Vickers subsidiary is called Vickers OMC. Dynamic Global Defence Technologies' (DGDT) chairman, Dr Diliza Mji, and Vickers Defence Systems' chief executive, Archie Hughes, signed the R25-million partnership deal in Pretoria on Tuesday.

The British company is part of Rolls-Royce plc. Vickers OMC was described in a statement as the world's leading manufacturer of a wide range of armoured defence and peacekeeping vehicles.

The shareholders of DGDT are KMM Investment (Pty) Ltd, an investment holding company jointly owned by Moeletsi Mbeki and Khapametsi Maleke, and Goldenwood Investments (Pty) Ltd which belongs to Mji.

Mji said the deal was a milestone in black empowerment in South Africa.

The deal with DGDT was the fulfilment of a black empowerment undertaking made by Vickers Defence Systems when it acquired from Reunert what was then called Reumech OMC in 1999, the statement said.

With acknowledgements to Sapa.