Home » Botswana retail moguls Farouk Ismail, Ramachandran Ottapathu increase stake in Choppies

Botswana retail moguls Farouk Ismail, Ramachandran Ottapathu increase stake in Choppies

by Omokolade Ajayi

Botswana businessmen Farouk Ismail and Ramachandran Ottapathu have acquired an additional 6,259,264 ordinary shares in Choppies Enterprises Limited at a cost of R5.26 million ($331,800).

A notification issued on the Botswana Stock Exchange by the retailer revealed that the businessmen acquired 6,259,264 ordinary shares on Nov. 25 at a price of R0.84 ($0.05298) per share, putting the cash consideration for the acquisition at R5.26 million ($331,800).

Before the acquisition, Ismail and Ottapathu held a joint 44.17-percent stake, amounting to 575,830,865 ordinary shares in the leading retailer.

As a result of the recent purchase, their joint stake in Choppies increased from 575,830,865 shares to 582,090,129 shares.

As of press time, Nov. 25, shares in Choppies were worth R0.80 ($0.05053) per share, 4.76-percent lower than its opening price this morning.

At the current price, the market value of their joint stake is valued at R465.67 million ($29.43 million). This valuation places them among the wealthiest businessmen and investors in Botswana.

Choppies Enterprises Limited is a Botswana-based investment holding operating in the retail sector in Southern Africa, with 154 stores and eight distribution centers across the region.

The group operates as a leading player in the food and general merchandise retail segments under Ottapathu, who co-founded the retailing giant with Ismail in 1986. 

A recent financial statement by Choppies revealed that the supermarket chain posted its first profit since 2016, as earnings during its 2021 financial year surged above the BWP59-million ($5 million) mark.

Figures contained in the holding’s financial statement revealed that its bottom-line improved by 116.1 percent from the loss of BWP370.6 million ($32.4 million) reported last year to BWP59.6 million ($5.2 million) during the period under review.

Choppies would have posted a resilient financial result in 2020. Still, the BWP469.6-million ($41 million) loss that it incurred relating to the divestiture of its South Africa operations pressured its BWP99-million ($8.6 million) net profit to a loss of BWP370.6 million ($32.4 million).

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