Nictus acquires controlling stake in Futeni

NAMIBIAN Harvest Investments (NHI) has sold its 65 per cent share in Futeni Collections for N$2,6 million to Corporate Guarantee and Insurance Company of Namibia Limited (CGI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nictus Limited.

NHI and Nictus announced the sale in two separate advertisements placed in local newspapers. The sale is effective January 1 2004.The rest of Futeni’s shares are owned by the Government Institute Pension Fund (GIPF).NHI said: “Futeni always had a limited life.Negotiations have been underway for some time to bring to a conclusion NHI’s role in Futeni.”Futeni was created upon NHI’s acquisition of City Savings and Investment Bank in 2000, to collect the recoverable portion of the bank’s non-performing loan book, NHI explained.Although the CSIB loan book was included in the sale, NHI retains a significant portion of the N$10 million book, that which is owed by 12 of the approximately 1 000 clients listed on the book.”CGI shall repay the retained claim attributable to NHI as and when the selected book debts are collected,” NHI said, but it will retain management responsibility for the collection of these selected debts.Nico Tromp, executive chairman of the Nictus Group, said Futeni had about N$2,6 million left over to collect apart from NHI’s claim in that loan book.This forms part of the package his group has acquired.Two of Futeni’s original five staff members have also been retained.He explained that Nictus is a diversified group with interests in the furniture sector, carpets, motor cars, property, insurance and also already in debt recovery.He said the this acquisition will help Nictus’s debt recovery enterprises tender for bigger contracts including banks.According to Tromp, Futeni will follow two routes into the future.The company will continue collecting debts from its loan book with a maximum of 2 to 3 years expected to recover the current debts.The other route is to play a more important role in the financing of housing.Tromp said Futeni is to start lending money, particularly in support of housing and in line with the national Vision 2030.Futeni has the disciplines of debt recovery and Nictus, in turn, brings 60 years of experience in lending money to people to buy furniture and cars while his company has never been in a court case for this, Tromp said.He said Futeni’s operations had already been transferred onto Nictus’s internal systems.He added that the participation of the GIPF in the venture is also of consequence.The sale is effective January 1 2004.The rest of Futeni’s shares are owned by the Government Institute Pension Fund (GIPF).NHI said: “Futeni always had a limited life.Negotiations have been underway for some time to bring to a conclusion NHI’s role in Futeni.”Futeni was created upon NHI’s acquisition of City Savings and Investment Bank in 2000, to collect the recoverable portion of the bank’s non-performing loan book, NHI explained.Although the CSIB loan book was included in the sale, NHI retains a significant portion of the N$10 million book, that which is owed by 12 of the approximately 1 000 clients listed on the book.”CGI shall repay the retained claim attributable to NHI as and when the selected book debts are collected,” NHI said, but it will retain management responsibility for the collection of these selected debts.Nico Tromp, executive chairman of the Nictus Group, said Futeni had about N$2,6 million left over to collect apart from NHI’s claim in that loan book.This forms part of the package his group has acquired.Two of Futeni’s original five staff members have also been retained.He explained that Nictus is a diversified group with interests in the furniture sector, carpets, motor cars, property, insurance and also already in debt recovery.He said the this acquisition will help Nictus’s debt recovery enterprises tender for bigger contracts including banks.According to Tromp, Futeni will follow two routes into the future.The company will continue collecting debts from its loan book with a maximum of 2 to 3 years expected to recover the current debts.The other route is to play a more important role in the financing of housing.Tromp said Futeni is to start lending money, particularly in support of housing and in line with the national Vision 2030.Futeni has the disciplines of debt recovery and Nictus, in turn, brings 60 years of experience in lending money to people to buy furniture and cars while his company has never been in a court case for this, Tromp said.He said Futeni’s operations had already been transferred onto Nictus’s internal systems.He added that the participation of the GIPF in the venture is also of consequence.