Johannesburg - Saki Macozoma, the former managing director of Transnet, the transport parastatal, had bought 10 percent of Safika Holdings, a black-owned group with investments in telecommunications, information technology (IT) and finance, the company said yesterday.
The value of the acquisition was not disclosed.
Macozoma, now a member of Safika's board of directors and deputy chairman of Standard Bank, said the company was small enough for one to acquire a significant stake and contribute to building its future value.
"My own assessment is that there's great potential in Safika for expansion and future value," Macozoma said.
Moss Ngoasheng, the executive chairman of Safika, said the management valued Safika at more than R350 million.
Safika holds more than 1,5 percent of M-Cell, the holding company of cellular operator MTN, and about a 5 percent strategic stake in the listed financial services company Insourcing Specialists, which focuses on treasury and risk management in the public and private sector.
The technology division includes Safika Online, which specialises in consulting and implementation design and deployment of intranet, extranet and e-commerce applications.
Ngoasheng said the company continued to look out for investment opportunities, especially in black empowerment private equity companies.
He said Macozoma's experience would help the company accelerate its growth.