Formal Investigation into B-BBEE Equity Complaints – Should Oceana be Worried?

What kind of investor owns Oceana Group Limited? This is a question that has recently been raised by stocks watchdog Simply Wall St. Interestingly, it coincides with the news that the Food and Allied Workers Union (FAWU) has lodged a formal complaint with the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Commission about the Group’s dilution of black equity in the Oceana Empowerment Trust.

Simply Wall St says: “Every investor in Oceana Group Limited (JSE:OCE) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. We also tend to see lower insider ownership in companies that were previously publicly owned.”

Which is what is happening with the Oceana Group, not a large company by global standards (R8.4bn market capitalisation @ 31 December 2020). It does however have interests in Asia, Europe, the USA, Australia, the Far East and internationally. Its’ core purpose, by its own admission, is to be a leading global fishing and commercial cold storage company.