Spur's empowerment plan is in the oven 
July 28, 2006

By Ronnie Morris

Cape Town - Spur Corporation, the listed fast-food franchisor, hoped to announce a broad-based black empowerment deal within six months, managing director Pierre van Tonder said yesterday.

The group, which owns the Spur Steak Ranch, John Dory's Fish & Grill and Panarotti's Pizza Pasta chains, was in advanced talks with the Industrial Development Corporation for favourable funding terms and had secured provisional funding of R30 million to introduce previously disadvantaged individuals into its business.

The group has about 15 franchise restaurants where black shareholding is between 25 percent and 100 percent. 

"From a corporate level we are looking at the best way forward to do a black economic empowerment transaction and are looking for an elegant solution à because the industry does not have a charter or a scorecard," Van Tonder said.

The group was not going to sit back and wait because it believed there were opportunities that could be seized. In order to ensure success Spur would play a more active role in mentoring black shareholders and would second staff for one to two years to assist.

Chief financial officer Ronel van Dijk said that since November 2004 the group had looked for a commercial partner and had sought mutual benefits. It had met with prospective partners and identified synergies but realised this could be better found in a joint venture or at a normal transactional level.