PSG, one of South Africa’s most prominent investment companies, and an indirect shareholder in Spirit, held its annual Growth Conference in February in Stellenbosch. Representatives from all of PSG’s associate and subsidiary companies were invited to discuss and debate various topics including the challenging economic times and identifying growth opportunities.

At the conference, Jannie Mouton, the Chairman of PSG, presents an annual award to the company that delivered the largest growth in earnings over the past year. Spirit is proud to have been awarded the Chairman’s “Company of the Year” award for 2009.

Big Box Containers Relocates its Johannesburg Office

The significant growth experienced by Big Box Containers (Pty) Ltd, subsequent to Spirit’s investment in April 2007, has resulted in the need to relocate the Johannesburg branch to larger premises. Given the specialist nature of the business, the new premises had to be located within the greater City Deep area. Big Box has secured the rights to approximately 18,000m² of bulk land adjacent to the M2 highway in Denver, Johannesburg. The new facilities are ideally located for Big Box’s business and should assist it in delivering on its growth initiatives. We look forward to seeing the results.

Partial Sale of Web Africa

Spirit Capital, corporate advisors to Web Africa, are pleased to announce that Smartcom has acquired a 30% equity stake in Web Africa. Web Africa is a national internet service provider, which provides broadband internet access and hosting solutions to both local and international clients. Smartcom is a specialised distributor and provider of voice and data services in the mobile environment.

The transaction was completed in December 2008, and the terms remain confidential.

Acquisition of Surgetek

The Director’s of Clidet No 914 (Pty) Ltd (“Clidet”) are pleased to announce that Clidet has acquired a 100% equity stake in Surge Technology (Pty) Ltd (“Surgetek”). Surgetek is a manufacturer and distributor of earthing, lightning and overvoltage/surge protection devices. Spirit Capital acted on behalf of Clidet.

The transaction was effective 31 March 2009, and the terms remain confidential.