Ibex Offers $1.5 Billion Stake in South African Retailer Pepkor
The selling shareholder is offering about one billion shares of the South African retailer, which would be worth about 27 billion South African rand ($1.53 billion) based on Monday's closing price of 27.06 rand per share. Demand for the shares exceeded the stock being offered within minutes of the transaction launching, the terms show.
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Many ships are registered in countries with lax enforcement and owned by shell companies that obscure responsibility. In an industry driven by cost-cutting and aggressive competition, some shipowners walk away when faced with financial trouble, leaving crews unpaid and stranded without food, water or legal recourse. The fragmented nature of maritime law, which varies in each country, combined with limited accountability across jurisdictions, can drive exploitation. The Gas Falcon's registered owner is Gator Shipping Alfa, whose holding company is Gator Shipping Limited, a private limited company registered in Torquay, Devon. The ITF's Steve Trowsdale said the seafarers 'have been abandoned by a company that clearly has no intention of meeting its legal or moral obligations'. Gator Shipping did not respond to this allegation. 'We are very concerned to hear about the plight of these seafarers,' said Sapna Malik, partner and co-head of the international department at the law firm Leigh Day. 'It may be possible to seek legal recourse in the English courts against Gator Shipping for allegedly breaching its duties to the seafarers, potentially engaging the Modern Slavery Act.' 'You do not care how much the ship's crew is suffering aboard your vessel. Now we have run out of supplies and, despite my repeated requests, you are unable to arrange it' The Gas Falcon had been carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The crew was told by Gator Shipping that salaries would be paid after the cargo was discharged. Instead, it sent the vessel to an anchorage farther out to sea. The seafarers are not allowed to disembark because they do not have visas for Mozambique. 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In the statement, he said: 'We have consistently taken steps to ensure the vessel has sufficient food and water, although delivering bunker provisions and fresh water in Beira presents significant logistical challenges and may have caused occasional delays.' 'We are not getting paid, and not being released or allowed to disembark and work for some other shipping company,' said Aslam, 51, from Lahore, Pakistan. His family back home is running out of money and has taken out loans to make ends meet because he is not being paid. All of t he crew are under pressure to support families, who have been left in a state of despair and poverty, Aslam added . The seafarers have requested permission from the shipowner to disembark three times since December, according to documents seen by The Observer. Gator Shipping has not acted on these pleas.'The company is beyond reason. Mainly they do not bother to reply, and even if they reply it is: 'We are working on it' or simply: 'Noted',' said Aslam. Careri, through Gator Shipping and another of his entities, Kharta Shipping, has been involved in three crew abandonments since May 2024, says the ITF. Last year, another cohort of crew on the Gas Falcon was abandoned off the coast of Mogadishu with 19 seafarers on board. At that time, the ship had insurance with the West of England Shipowners Mutual Insurance Association, which paid the crew's salaries. The Gas Falcon is uninsured, according to the ITF and the crew, after the West of England terminated coverage following that incident. In November 2024, another vessel, the Gas Parrot, was abandoned for about three months with 10 seafarers onboard while under the ownership of Careri's Kharta Shipping. The crew was eventually repatriated in January this year after intervention by the ITF and India's National Union of Seafarers. That vessel was also uninsured, and the crew had only limited food, water and fuel during the ordeal. 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