JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- On 24 February, Greif South Africa entered into a transaction with a diverse group of partners comprising companies controlled by black women, black men, and the employees of Greif South Africa to become a Broad-Based Black Empowered Enterprise (BEE) under South African law. The partners, who are acquiring 30 percent of the South African business of Greif, are Nozala; Sphere; WOESA Investments; West Dunes; and a Trust representing the employees of Greif South Africa. "Greif's vision is to be the best industrial packaging company in the world in all aspects, and this is a giant step in that direction," said David Fischer, Greif's President of Industrial Packaging & Services - Americas and Africa. Greif's Regional Manager for Africa Reinier Hietink said his group had worked for three years on creating the right structure for broad-based BEE status. "We have kept a scorecard of the metrics that measure BEE," Hietink said. "Our results are in line with or better than some companies that have formally achieved the status. We have been working seriously on improving results in equity and employment, management and procurement. We have also invested in social programs to improve the lives of our employees and their communities." Hietink said the joint venture's formal BEE scorecard will be posted and maintained on the Greif web site, http://www.greif.com/. Nozala is a black-led women's investment company with a mission to increase female participation in the economy while simultaneously improving the quality of life of ordinary South African women. Salukazi Dakile- Hlongwane, the Chief Executive of Nozala stated, "This transaction is a vote of confidence in the abilities of women businesspeople. Women bring diversity to the corporate world and diversity enables creativity in problem solving. Nozala is excited about adding another world-class packaging company in its fold and looks forward to a mutually beneficial business relationship." Sphere is a new generation empowerment investment company managed and controlled by black professionals with a background in private equity, investment banking, corporate law and asset management. Sphere's ownership structure has been designed to promote both entrepreneurship and broad-based empowerment. Accordingly, the majority of the equity in Sphere is owned by the management team and by broad-based groupings that have a particular focus on education and the economic empowerment of women, the youth and the disabled. Itumeleng Kgaboesele, the Chief Executive Officer of Sphere, stated that Sphere was delighted to partner with a world leader of Greif's calibre. WOESA Investments (Pty) Ltd is the commercial vehicle of an association of over 100 black women-owned and -managed companies active in the oil and energy sector. WOESA facilitates, promotes and participates in business opportunities for South African women in the Oil and Energy industry. "WOESA as a women's empowerment organisation is excited to have become part of Greif South Africa. Women can participate in leading positions and use women's particular value-add to the advantage of this leading packaging company for oil products," says Pinky Moabi, Director of WOESA Investments. West Dunes is based in the Mpumalanga Province and is owned and managed by a black woman, Prisca Nyoni, who is a member of Women in Oil & Energy of SA. West Dunes has been formed to facilitate previously marginalised black women's participation in broad-based empowerment deals within the oil and energy sectors. West Dune's director, Prisca Nyoni, appreciates Greif's efforts to empower a company based in a non-metropolitan area of South Africa and incorporating it into a dynamic pool of very competent empowerment companies. "Indeed, this deal is truly broad based. We are confident that the future of Greif can only be brighter," says Nyoni. Employees of Greif South Africa (Pty) Ltd includes all of the approximately 280 employees of Greif South Africa, including production and office workers. Employee trustee, Mr Thabo Taukobong, says that most commendable is the all-inclusive broad-based nature of the deal in that it provides employees with an equity stake in the company. Greif operates plants in Vanderbijlpark and Jet Park (Johannesburg), Mobeni (Durban) and Epping (Cape Town), which produce steel and plastic drums. The company also maintains a sales office and distribution center in Port Elizabeth Greif is the world leader in industrial packaging products and services. The company manufactures and distributes an extensive range of steel, plastic, fibre, corrugated and multiwall containers and protective packaging for a wide range of industries. Greif also produces containerboard and manages timber properties in North America. Greif is strategically positioned in 43 countries to serve global as well as regional customers. Additional information is on the Company's Web site at http://www.greif.com/. DATASOURCE: Greif CONTACT: Deb Strohmaier, APR, Director, Communications, +1 740-549-6074, Web site: http://www.greif.com/

Copyright