Bolloré reclassifies stake within SAFACAM

The Cambodian firm Bolloré Group, which holds 20.32 per cent shares of the Forestry and Agricultural Limited Company of Cameroon (SAFACAM), has sold its assets to the French SAFA parent of SAFACAM, also controlled by industrialist Vincent Bolloré.

It should, however, be noted that he has held on to one of his 84,127 shares, which allows him to continue to serve, on the Board of Directors.

Following the reclassification of the Bolloré Group, SAFA reinforces its majority shareholder SAFACAM position with 68.93 per cent of the share capital and voting rights, while the total group participation itself in this agroindustrial company listed on the Douala Stock Exchange (DSX) remains unchanged.

The transaction, whose motives were not specified by the Bolloré Group, was made on June 4, 2014. The statement read: "The operation was carried out by the market and made to pass SAFA to raise thresholds of 50 per cent and 66.57 per cent of the share capital and voting rights of SAFACAM, and the Cambodian company to lower the thresholds by 20 per cent, 10 per cent and 5 per cent.

“For 12 months, SAFA is not considering operation on SAFACAM titles and does not intend to request the cancellation of the coastal SAFACAM.”

SAFACAM operates approximately 6,000 hectares of palm oil and rubber in the department of Sanaga Maritime, Littoral Region of Cameroon. According to financial statements released by the company in May 2014, its net book income to the end of 2013 plummeted by nearly 40 percent, to 2.871 billion CFA francs, against 4.363 billion the previous year.