Last week I speculated that if I was Johann Rupert, I’d swap my stake in Distell for a piece of Pernod Ricard.  Today CapeVin Investments [CVI] which owns 29% of Distell, issues a cautionary announcement on the JSE “Shareholders are advised that the Company may enter into a transaction which, if successfully concluded, may have an effect on the price of the Company’s securities.  Accordingly, shareholders are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the Company’s securities until a full announcement is made.”

A simple Stellenbosch management structure

Meanwhile CapeVin Holdings which owns 51% of CVI is up 9.4% while Zeder, the agricultural investment company of Jannie Mouton which owns  39% of CVH is up 3% on big volumes.  Distell, the asset at the centre of all this attention, is at an all-time high of R81 buyers.  The only issue is what the directors of the pyramid CVI and CVH will do with their free time if their elaborate “management” structure is dismantled?

The author is a shareholder of CVI and CVH