South African manufacturer RCL Foods says it will withdraw an application for an urgent interdict against one of the business rescue plans of Tongaat Hulett after business rescue practitioners (BRPs) agreed to make changes to the plan.
On Friday, RCL Foods filed an application against the Vision consortium plan, viewing the plan as unlawful as it did not make provisions for the settlement on Tongaat Hulett’s statutory obligations.
RCL Foods, the owners of Selati Sugar, stated that in the Vision Consortium plan, there's an assumption that the South African Sugar Association (Sasa) will not receive payment for three years. On the contrary, RGS's plan suggests an immediate settlement of the Sasa claim amount.
The withdrawal of the applications means that the vote on the business rescue plans by Vision Consortium and RGS Sugar should go ahead on Wednesday, January 10.
However, business rescue practitioner Metis has not disclosed the details of the amendments made to the Vision Consortium plan.
Vision Consortium has Terris Sugar, Robert Gumede’s Guma, and Remogoggo among its main investors, and the other bidder is Mozambican company RGS Group.
In December, the Durban High Court ordered that the two business rescue plans from Vision and RGS that were released in November could not be voted on in their current form.
RCL Foods said that they had taken legal action in the interests of the broader sugar industry.
Tongaat Hulett and Tongaat Hulett Developmental entered business rescue in October 2022.
IOL Business