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South African brewer SABMiller and Tsogo Investments unveiled a 1.9 billion ($213 million) deal on December 12 to create the country's largest hotel and gaming company, heralding it as a milestone for black ownership.

South African Tourism Minister Valli Moosa welcomed the deal as a new benchmark for transformation in the economy, which is still dominated by whites eight years after apartheid ended.

SABMiller Chief Financial Executive Malcolm Wyman said the group would divest its 49-percent stake in TSH over time, either through a listing in Johannesburg or through an arrangement offering its partner the opportunity to purchase more shares.

"With a single stroke (you have) pushed this industry way ahead of almost every other sector in terms of black economic empowerment," the tourism minister told reporters.

Government policies aim to give the black majority a bigger role through charters giving black-controlled groups bigger stakes in key sectors, and favouring these entities in the award of contracts and licences.

A joint statement said SABMiller would contribute to TSH its entire hotel and gaming interests, which comprise 100 percent of Southern Sun Hotels, South Africa's largest hotel group, and 50 percent of Tsogo Sun, a leading casino operator.


16 December, 2002