Tongaat Hulett Limited (JSE:TON) has attracted the interest of eight potential buyers for either the entire company or its ailing SA business, raising the prospect of saving one of the biggest names and employers in the country. The business rescue practitioners, Metis Advisory, on 01 June 2023 unveiled their plan to save SA's largest sugar producer and scheduled the vote on it for June 14. Tongaat tumbled into business rescue, a process aimed at averting bankruptcy, in October, as the company's debt far exceeded its assets.

The troubles began after fraudulent activities discovered in 2018 showed a sizeable shortfall of ZAR 12 abillion in the accounts. There is significant interest surrounding how Metis Advisory intends to rescue the firm as Tongaat is integral to the rural KwaZulu-Natal economy. However, Tongaat aims to begin a retrenchment process during the business rescue to cut staff, it says.

The plan reveals banks are owed ZAR 7.3 billion and its total debt is worth almost ZAR 10 billion. Its assets are worth ZAR 5 billion, the plan says. The share was trading at just over ZAR 4 in July.

If the plan is adopted, the company will be delisted from the JSE. The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which provided ZAR 1.2 billion in funding to support Tongaat during the business rescue process, will also have some influence over the selection of the buyer. Final bids need to be submitted by June 15.