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Fradreck Gorwe
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed diversified company offering innovative solutions in logistics, real estate, agriculture, commodity production and trading in Zimbabwe and the SADC region, TSL Limited, has a long history stretching back to 1957 when it was only a tobacco auction floor.
In fact, TSL was initially an abbreviation for Tobacco Sales Limited before diversification into logistics and agronomy and real estate.
The company grew into a conglomerate housing other huge companies into tobacco auctioning, storage and distribution, printing and packaging, and provision of agricultural inputs.
Subsidiaries into logistics included Bak Storage Limited, Forklift Services, and Tobacco Warehouse and Export Company (1946) limited.
Those into provision of inputs to agriculture consisted of Chemco Holdings, Agricor Limited, Agricura, Tobacco Sales Warehouse Limited, Propak Limited and Cure Quip.
Tobacco Sales Floor Limited was into tobacco auctioning while TS Timber (Private) Limited was into the production and supply of timber.
The company also housed a services division into which fell Car Rental Services, Avis Reliant Computers, Infortronics Limited, Interdata (Private) Limited and Tobacco Sales Administration Services Limited.
Printing and packaging services were provided through joint ventures with Hunyani Holdings and Softex (Private) Limited. Among other partly and wholly-owned subsidiaries was Caribonum (Central Africa) Limited.
Other associate companies later included the 30 percent owned Cut Rag Processors, a company held as a liability in the company’s records for some time until its disposal commenced in 2019.
The portfolio of subsidiaries has since been downsized through rationalisation, restructuring, consolidation and elsewhere complete disposal.
TSL had acquired a controlling stake in Hunyani Holdings (now Nampak Zimbabwe), in 1995.
In November 1996 TSL rationalised its printing and packaging interests by selling Print Holdings to Hunyani Holdings Limited in exchange for the company’s shares.
The company also disposed of its timber estate, Thomas Cook National, during the same year. Further, the company in 1996 acquired majority shareholding in Propak, thereby transforming it into a subsidiary.
TSL had many subsidiary companies such that a comprehensive analysis of its acquisitions may incorporate the subsidiaries’ own acquisitions.
In 1998, a logistic subsidiary, Freight World, was sold to management and staff and ceased to be part of the group.
In 2005, the group acquired an interest in Chemco through a share swap deal which saw the latter acquiring four businesses that included TSL’s 100 percent owned Agriculture Buying Service and TS Timbers. Itself, Chemco, was the holding company for Agpy, Agricor and Agricura.
Agricura (Private) Limited later became TSL’s flagship subsidiary in the agro-input segment. By 2012 the subsidiary’s business model was changed from manufacturing to distribution.
In 2013, a new agro-retail business, TSL Trading Limited, was established.
TSL ultimately acquired majority shareholding in Chemco in 2014, thus taking full control of the agro-chemicals business. Chemco delisted from ZSE in the same year.
Premier Forklifts was acquired in October 2013 by Bak Logistics to enhance the handling capabilities of TSL’s logistics business. Premier Forklifts had been in business since 2001.
TSL had in the previous year (2012) formed TSL Properties to improve the range and quality of logistic services through enhanced warehousing. It was also formed as a way of consolidating the company’s property segment.
On October 1 2014, Hunyani Holdings, a subsidiary, was absorbed into a new entity named Nampak Zimbabwe and as a result TSL continued participating in the new entity, holding a 16,53 percent stake then.
Key Logistics, a freight forwarding and customs clearing business, was acquired in 2015. It had the sole agency of DB Schenker in Zimbabwe.
The development resulted in the group securing a partnership with the world’s second largest logistics service provider. Until 2017 new contracts had been signed with shipping lines to enhance the distribution business.
During the same year the group acquired another agro-subsidiary, Chimayo Investments (Private) Limited.
In 2016, the group made decisions to dispose of Cut Rag Processors and Nampak Zimbabwe. Disposal of the former materialised when an unnamed purchaser reportedly advanced some initial payment in 2019.
The Group will continue to position for enhanced growth through exploiting opportunities in agriculture as well as leverage on local and international partnerships.
As updated on February 24, 2020, the counter holds a huge market capitalisation of $428 522 934 and a share price of 120,00 cents.
Derek Odoteye is the current group chief executive officer having assumed office effective February 1, 2020.
Bongani Ndlovu