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Good Morning Voornaam,

There are a couple of events next week that you can register for:

On Wednesday 21st June at 12pm, you can join the bizval team and special guests from the UK who will discuss how to prepare a business for sale, with the added benefit of insights from the UK private company market and a Q&A at the end of the session. Founders, this is for you. Register here>>>
Bringing it back to the listed space, Thursday 22nd June at 12pm sees Attacq and Tharisa as our feature companies on the next edition of Unlock the Stock. Brought to you by A2X, this is a fantastic way to learn about both companies and to practice your equity a nalyst skills in the Q&A. Register here>>>

Bookmark these for a long weekend:

Ghost Wrap is your weekly update on the JSE's most interesting stories. Brought to you by Mazars, the latest episode features my views on Bidcorp, Bidvest, MultiChoice, Argent Industrial, Renergen, Capital Appreciation and The Foschini Group. Learn here>>>
Mark S ack of Sally Williams Fine Foods joined me on the bizval podcast to talk about building an FMCG business into a household name, including a story about exporting to none other than Costco! Find it here>>>
The latest episode of Magic Markets features Alex Weiss of Trive South Africa and a discussion on five Chinese stocks. These thematic shows are an excellent way to learn about several stocks in one go. Take a trip to China here>>>
For more detailed fundamental and technical analysis, Trive South Africa also took a look a t Dell Technologies here and JD.com here.
Last week, I presented a webinar on emigration alongside TreasuryONE. The recording (including the Q&A) is available here>>>

Spar: not good for you

Well, there's no dividend. If Spar's income statement doesn't make it clear why that is the case, then a quick skim of the net debt discussion in the results will. SAP implementation issues have continued (surprise, surprise) and profits are under pressure. For investors, their best chance of getting cash back from Spar anytime in the near future will be to find a coupon and redeem it at the till.

Yesterday also saw a trading update come through from Naspers and Prosus, a group that has specialised in incinerating shareholder value while making the management team fabulously wealthy. The five-year returns say it all. But over the past year, punters have done very well thanks to management selling down the Tencent stake and buying back shares. As for the rest of the group's tech portfolio, a "market correction in internet valuations" is stinging.

Aside from these major stories, we saw a raft of small- and mid-cap updates from Labat (with a very strange rights offer), Mantengu Mining, Marshall Monteagle and Shaftesbury Capital. You can take a journey from cannabis plantations through to London's West-End with just a single click this morning. Read Ghost Bites here>>>

DealMakers on a fake Friday

For those of you who aren't entrepreneurs, tomorrow is a public holiday. If you are an entrepreneur, this concept doesn't really exist. Either way, DealMakers is with you a day early this week. Aside from the usual summaries of M&A, general corporate finance and African activity, there's a particularly interesting piece from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr on private equity deals in a business rescue context, with Baker McKenzie also weighing in on the convergence of competition policy and social policy across Africa. These are top quality insights.

The "rattler" is rattling

The rand's nickname has been earned once more, having fully reversed the impact of the Simonstown Saga. Let this be another lesson to those who like to panic in taking their rands out of the country. I brought some back in the R19s instead and I'm glad I did. Now trading around R18.30 against the dollar, the all-time low of R19.90 is a painful but distant memory, despite being the level just a couple of weeks ago!

The dollar has lacked momentum as May's Producer Price Index figures fell below expectations. In line with what the market expected, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged at yesterday's FOMC meeting.

With that, I wish you a wonderful long weekend. I'll be back in your inboxes on Monday!

Ghost Bites (Labat | Mantengu Mining | Marshall Monteagle | Naspers + Prosus | Shaftesbury | Spar)

It was a day of big and small on the JSE, with numbers from Naspers and Prosus accompanied by a variety of small cap updates. Look out for detailed numbers from Spar, for which you need a strong stomach.

Who's doing what this week in the South African M&A space?

Weekly summary of Merger & Acquisition activity by South African companies

Weekly corporate finance activity by SA exchange-listed companies

Weekly summary of corporate finance activity by South African exchange listed companies

Who's doing what in the African M&A space?

Weekly summary of all Merger & Acquisition activity from across Africa (excluding South Africa)

Risk it for the biscuit: opportunities for private equity in business rescue

Business rescue presents a unique opportunity for private equity firms, investors and companies looking to return to a healthy position of solvency.

The increasing focus on public interest considerations in African competition policy

Doing business in Africa will necessitate awareness of the public interest mandates of competition authorities and how practices promote or impact public interest outcomes.

Dell: Expecting The Worst But Hoping For The Best? (with Trive South Africa)

After the release of recent results by Dell Technologies, is there evidence to support an argument for some upside in the share price?

JD.com: Riding the Wave Of E-commerce Growth in Turbulent Times

Step into the world of retail excellence with JD.com (NASDAQ: JD), the e-commerce champion that has been sprinting ahead, leaving competitors in its dust.

Ghost Wrap #28 (Bidcorp | Bidvest | MultiChoice | Argent Industrial | Renergen | Capital Appreciation | The Foschini Group)

There's a solid mix of sectors and performance in this episode of Ghost Wrap, ranging from record results in some places to really tough numbers in others.

Listen Now

Magic Markets Ep128: Five with Trive (China)

Alex Weiss of Trive South Africa returns to Magic Markets to discuss five Chinese stocks playing in the eCommerce and tech platform space.

Listen Now

bizval podcast: A sweet business (with Mark Sack, Sally Williams Fine Foods)

If you're curious about how an FMCG business grows into a household name that can export products to global retail giant Costco, this podcast is for you.

Listen Now

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