Tongaat Hulett has a debt of more than R6 billion.
SA’s largest sugar producer, Tongaat Hulett, has received an undisclosed sum from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to help it complete its milling season and carry out maintenance.
Tongaat was placed under corporate bailout in October after its lenders failed to back a restructuring plan.
The funding advanced by IDC, known as post-startup funding, is the group’s first cash injection since it went under bailout. Tongaat told News24 that he is not disclosing the amount he received.
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Business bailout practitioners at the sugar group described IDC’s finances as a “significant step forward.”
“This funding ensures that we can continue to make payments to employees, producers and other suppliers whose livelihoods depend on Tongaat Hulett,” they said.
Trading in the group’s shares was halted in July after it failed to publish its annual audited financial statements for the year ending March 2022. Tongaat said it could not say when the JSE suspension would be lifted.
He said he could only complete these financial statements after his business bailout plan has been approved.
The plan is expected to be published at the end of January, which means trading in Tongaat’s shares will remain suspended for at least another month.
About two weeks after the corporate bailout plan is expected to be published, several former Tongaat executives are expected to make a second court appearance on fraud charges.
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