Zimbabwe: Engen Takeover Of Chevron Operations in Doubt
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Friday, 18 November 2011 |
Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment is claiming that a takeover of Chevron Zimbabwe’s operations by Engen was completed without regulatory approval. Chevron Zimbabwe, which was taken over on November 1, had won approval from the ministry for a sale to the the Croco Motors consortium, but not to Engen. Local Newspaper Herald Business is reports that the Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere (pictured), rejected the takeover, saying it would not be "in the public interest".
However, Chevron Zimbabwe wrote to relevant stakeholders on November 1 to say that the company “will continue to trade as usual under the ownership of Engen.” Chevron assured its dealers that there would be no changes to the legal entity but that plans to rebrand were underway.
Minister Kasukuwere, speaking to reporters, said he was unaware of the development, but that the country’s indigenisation programme should be opened up to more participants. "As far as I am aware, I only approved the Engen takeover deal and I am not aware that the same individuals are now involved in the Chevron deal. The law is very clear regarding such transactions and they should just comply with the law,” he said. "In other words, as far as I am concerned that deal is null and void and those guys should give others a chance."
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