News24.com | JUST IN | Iqbal Survé-linked IT group AYO reaches settlement with PIC

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The court battle between state-owned asset manager the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and IT group AYO has been settled after lawyers for the two sides clinched a confidential deal.

The PIC, which manages the pensions of SA civil servants, had taken AYO to court in a bid to claw back its R4.3 billion investment.

The long-awaited case started in the second week of March. But after two weeks of arguments in what was set to be a four-week case, the legal teams on Thursday agreed to settle.

The settlement was not read out in court. 

The Group Chief Executive of African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI) Khalid Abdulla said on Friday morning that the settlement was confidential. AYO is a subsidiary of AEEI. 

Abdulla noted AYO would be releasing a statement later in the day, but said:

Asked why the settlement was confidential, Abdulla said: "It has been agreed between the parties. It makes the most sense."

The settlement means that Judge Ashley Binns-Ward will not have to rule on whether the AYO misrepresented itself in 2017 when it secured R4.3 billion in funding from the asset manager.  

The PIC bought 29% of AYO's shares in its initial public offering in December 2017. AYO's stock has since fallen by around 85% over the past five years from R43 to R4.70 a share. 

The IT group, part of businessman Iqbal Survé's Sekunjalo group, has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

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