Reprint of the article "Buyouts provide relief from anti-apartheid pressure," by Jim Jones. Jones discusses how companies try to remove themselves as targets of divestment by selling to conglomerates, such as the recent Barclays deal with Anglo American, or selling to local managers, as IBM and General Motors (GM) recently did. Buyouts allow the foreign parent to respond to anti-apartheid activism at home while retaining a lower-profile trading presence in the South African market. For manufacturing companies, technology transfers and component imports are an issue. GM, which is precluded by U.S. law from selling vehicles containing American components to the South African military, told the...
Reprint of the article "Buyouts provide relief from anti-apartheid pressure," by Jim Jones. Jones discusses how companies try to remove themselves as targets of divestment by selling to conglomerates, such as the recent Barclays deal with Anglo American, or selling to local managers, as IBM and General Motors (GM) recently did. Buyouts allow the foreign parent to respond to anti-apartheid activism at home while retaining a lower-profile trading presence in the South African market. For manufacturing companies, technology transfers and component imports are an issue. GM, which is precluded by U.S. law from selling vehicles containing American components to the South African military, told the South African government of its divestment before it told its own employees. General Electric (GE), Rohm and Haas, Gilbarce and Copper Industries have concluded management buyouts while agreeing to continue supplying the former South African offshoots with components and technological know-how and to maintain licensing agreements. The article also mentions Bob White, Opel, Isuzu, Phibro-Saloman, Derby Metals, Andre Roux, and Japanese and German manufacturing plans.
