Cape Town - Chris Nissen, the chairman of Kovac Investments 608, the black empowerment consortium that acquired a 30 percent stake in wine estate Boschendal for R80 million, yesterday vowed the consortium would not be a remote and passive partner.
In the first phase of the sale, 915ha was acquired, including historic homesteads, restaurants, vineyards and the winery.
In the second phase, within two to three years, the consortium will take ownership of related farms adjacent to Boschendal, which are about 1 327ha in size.
The estate, which has produced wine since 1685, stretches from the Simonsberg to the Groot Drakenstein Mountains.
The vineyards take up more than 344ha, which yield 250 000 cases of white and red wine a year.
Staff will be retained, including senior vintner JC Bekker and viticulturist Spekkies van Breda.
The total sale has a price tag of R323 million.
The majority stake was bought by an international investment consortium, Citation Holdings, which is registered in Luxembourg and led by Clive Venning, the new chief executive of the estate, and Charles Boswell.
Its shareholders include Frank Crothers, Craig Symonette and Juan Bacardi.
Nissen said the R80 million that Kovac paid had been raised through loans raised from a JCI subsidiary in an arm's length transaction.
Brett and Roger Kebble were not involved in the deal.
Nissen said there were four communities in the Dwars River Valley. During consultations with these communities, the repeated plea was that the deal should not be another "hit-and-run" development but must instead bring empowerment to the communities.
"As a empowerment partner we will not be remote and reserved but will be involved in the development on a day-to-day basis," said Nissen.
Procurement of goods and services was a key issue and a wide range of professional skills were available in the valley, he said.
Nissen's consortium was committed to the Dwars River valley and would ensure the equity would be extended, he said.
Venning said about 20 estates of between 100ha and 150ha, modelled on farmyards of 200 years ago, would be developed on Boschendal and would be sold for between R15 million and R20 million.
Gary Player, the legendary golfer, had already bought the first estate, Venning said.
Other developments in the plans included a low-impact, eco-friendly, high-value residential estate, a retirement village and a 50-bed boutique hotel, he said.