South Africa’s state-owned Industrial Development Corp. (IDC), which has a majority stake in the country’s phosphate and granular fertilizer producer Foskor, still plans on “selling down” its interest in the company, according to IDC CEO Tshokolo Petrus (TP) Nchocho in a Sept. 26 interview with the Daily Maverick.
An earlier attempt to sell a major stake in the company to an international investor collapsed due to market uncertainty in mid-2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nchocho expects to revisit a sale within the next 6-12 months and this may include the placement of the company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
The CEO told the paper the company was best in the hands of an industrial parent and that it requires capital on an ongoing basis like any capital-intensive business. A positive is that Foskor posted a R2.8 billion ($148.5 million) profit for the year ending March 31, 2023, reportedly its first profit since 2012.