Lonrho, the 101-year-old Anglo- African conglomerate formerly spearheaded by controversial tycoon Tiny Rowland, plans to join the Hong Kong stock exchange by the end of the year.
The former 'London & Rhodesia' was Africa's biggest trading and mining company in the 1970s and 1980s, but shrank to a shadow of its former self following Rowland's death in 1998, when most of its businesses were sold off. David Lenigas, the Australian entrepreneur who joined Lonrho in 2006 and has since been rebuilding it through acquisitions in Africa, said the company wanted a stock market presence in Hong Kong to raise its profile in China.
'We would hope to list our shares in Hong Kong by the end of this year,' Lenigas said. He added the company was selecting financial advisers.
Trade between China and Africa reached US$106.6 billion in 2008, but Lonrho, due to its bumpy recent history, has so far missed out on tapping into that lucrative link.
When Lenigas joined Lonrho as chairman, it was on the verge of extinction and about to dispose of its last signature asset - a majority stake in Mozambique's Cardoso hotel. The company has since bought a majority stake in Luba Freeport in the Gulf of Guinea, which counts China oil major CNOOC among its clients, and established intra-Africa airline Fly540. It has also bought food producers, hotels and a construction company.
Rowland, who was branded the 'unacceptable face of capitalism' by former British prime minister Ted Heath for allegedly busting trade sanctions against Zimbabwe, lost control of Lonrho in 1995 in a boardroom coup.