Not so.
The EGM went ahead.
Econet said it had created a facility to enable Zimbabwean shareholders to participate.
It had reached an agreement with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to allow local shareholders buy their shares through its subsidiary Steward Bank.
Econet Wireless Global would then pay the equivalent of the amount that is deposited into Steward Bank.
Rewind to 2003, when Strive Masiyiwa wanted to get rid of his shareholding in the Botswana-based mobile phone company, Mascom.
Instead of simply selling his 14 percent stake to the public Masiyiwa sought to sell the stake to Econet thus increasing his shareholding in the company from 26.1 percent to 64.1 percent.
In other words, he simply sold the shares to himself.
The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange asked the company to issue a revised circular to shareholders but like in the current case Econet negotiated its way out.
Minority shareholders, some of whom had backed Econet from the word go, were not happy with the deal but it went ahead.
Less than a year later, Econet was asked to sell its stake in Mascom.
This was supposedly a good deal for the company because it would raise $14 million in foreign currency and would use the money to improve its network and subscriber base.
The ultimate beneficiary in both deals was Strive Masiyiwa.
This raises the question who is the ultimate beneficiary in the current rights offer?
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