Murray & Roberts Limited (MRL), which is undergoing business rescue, has announced that its business rescue practitioners (BRPs) have obtained an additional R80m in post-commencement funding (PCF).
This additional facility builds on prior PCF support secured since MRL entered voluntary business rescue on Friday, 22 November 2024.
Funding to date has been instrumental in stabilising MRL’s business rescue proceedings, providing the BRPs with the time to develop, secure adoption of, and advance the implementation of a business rescue plan.
That plan is underpinned by the acquisition of MRL’s mining-related subsidiary businesses – including the Cementation operations in both Africa and the Americas – by a group of investors led by Differential Capital. Once completed, the transaction is expected to safeguard approximately 2,800 jobs across these businesses, with a particular emphasis on preserving South African jobs in Cementation Africa.
PCF has also enabled the BRPs to manage unavoidable retrenchments within MRL itself and to honour statutory severance obligations to affected employees in full.
The additional R80m facility, provided by the Differential consortium, further strengthens MRL’s ability to sustain momentum toward completion of the transaction, realising value for creditors and better outcomes for all affected parties.
The BRPs have noted some confusion regarding the recent liquidation application brought against Murray Roberts Holdings Limited (MRH). It is important to emphasise that MRH and MRL are separate and distinct legal entities. MRH is the ultimate holding company, while MRL is a downstream subsidiary (with several intermediate entities in between).
The liquidation of MRH has no impact on the ongoing business rescue proceedings of MRL, nor on the operations of the businesses being sold to the Differential consortium, which continue to deliver in the normal course.
The BRPs reiterate their confidence that the adopted business rescue plan represents the most sustainable and viable path forward. Its successful implementation is expected not only to protect livelihoods but also to preserve scarce technical skills across the mining and engineering sectors.
