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BCX boss has date with tribunal today2007-05-24 Peter Watt, the chief executive of Business Connexion (BCX), will appear before the competition tribunal today to give evidence and be cross-examined on the proposed merger between Telkom and BCX. This is despite his announcement that he is leaving the company at the end of next month. He said some time ago that he intended to retire as soon as the company received clarity on the Telkom deal. Yesterday analysts appeared puzzled by the timing of his announcement. The competition tribunal is holding hearings into Telkom's R2.4 billion takeover bid for BCX. Watt was supposed to give evidence on Monday, but decided to cancel at the last minute. He said this week that he did not believe he had anything else to add to what had already been said by witnesses in favour of the merger, including BCX senior executive Mike Sewell. But there were indications that the competition commission, which has recommended that the transaction be prohibited, was keen to hear evidence from Watt and to cross-examine him. It appears that Watt's decision to retire would not prevent him from being subpoenaed. Watt said his retirement was a separate matter from the tribunal proceedings. "The business has been well aware of my intentions to retire. "Although I intended to hand over the reins only after we had clarity on the Telkom deal, the board and I made a strategic decision to coincide my departure with the end of the financial year." Watt will be replaced by deputy chief executive Ben Mophatlane, who will take the helm from July 1 to coincide with the new financial year. Watt will remain with BCX in an advisory capacity until the end of the year. Watt, who is well respected in the IT industry, has been with BCX for eight years. An industry analyst said Watt's resignation was "a bit hurried" as he was expected to stay on until the proposed merger had been finalised. His decision not to testify on Monday was a "bit weird" because, as a chief executive, he needed "to go out there and sell the company" since the board had already approved the merger. The two-year-long takeover bid, which has cost BCX lucrative businesses and staff, is being opposed by the Internet Service Providers' Association (Ispa), Dimension Data and Gijima. This week Ispa told the tribunal that increased competition in the telecommunications market following the removal of Telkom's monopoly status would result in an explosion of growth that would benefit all the market players and secure Telkom's revenue. The tribunal also heard that a tie-up between Telkom and BCX would delay the benefits of the removal of Telkom's monopoly. BCX gained 1.36 percent to R7.45 on the JSE yesterday, while Telkom added 1.34 percent to R170. The all share index rose 1.6 percent. Source: My Broadband |
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