Mystery solved! Quantum Foods says it is now has information about the proposed buyer of 32% of its shares that scuppered rival Country Road's plans to make an offer to minorities and sent its shares soaring last week. The transaction by Luxembourg-based investment fund Silversands will result in the group having two large shareholders of reference, while its chairman and some of its management team have also built up sizeable holdings.

Zeder Investments, which sold a similar-sized stake in Quantum to Country Bird at R5 a share last month, may have missed a trick as Silverlands is paying up to R6 per share for its stake. Zeder has used some of the cash it raised from the Quantum disposal to buy back shares and says it may repurchase even more.

Meanwhile, as Eskom announced a new round of load shedding on Friday, Pan African Resources said it planned to generate more of its own power - cheaper than it gets it from state-owned utility. The announcement came as the gold producer beat its production and debt reduction targets for the year, despite power outages and the impact of Covid-19.

Also today, the latest M&A rankings courtesy of DealMakers. And in Thorts, Lerisha Naidu and Selma Matsinhe from law firm Baker McKenzie discuss how SA may struggle to attract the level of foreign direct investment it needs to meet its post-Covid recovery needs.

Finally, Ince strategist Sarah-Jane Wilkinson explores current trends in corporate reporting and the growing importance of environment, social and corporate governance. You can view Sarah-Jane's latest webinar here.

I hope you have a good week.

Stephen Gunnion

Managing Editor, InceConnect

Latest from Ingham Analytics - "(I)n (M)y (F)ace.....and yours"

Covid-19 isn't the cause of the swift descent into imminent national bankruptcy - South Africa had a pre-existing fiscal malaise that made it hypersensitive to the slightest of ailments. The country has now finally run out of fiscal runway and has punishingly high nominal and real ten-year bond yields. What are the alternatives? What about the IMF? What are the consequences? Which business sector is worst affected?

Two notes last week have been popular, "Fighting inflation" and "Rating retreat", the first examining the Satrix ILBI ETF and the second analysing Capitec.