Cell C's majority shareholder, Saudi Oger, does not consider Cell C a core business and would rather be left with its best performing operation, Turkish-based fixed-line operator Turk Telekom, according to one London-based fund manager.
Saudi Oger, a diversified company, started off as a construction group in 1978. It has operations in real estate development, operation and maintenance, and technology services.
Its telecommunications operations are a 60 percent shareholding in Cell C and a 55 percent stake in Turk Telekom.
According to the Saudi Oger website, Turk Telekom has more than 18.5 million fixed subscribers and 2 million high-speed internet subscribers.
It ranks among the 15 largest fixed-line operators in the world. Cell C had 2.7 million subscribers and revenues of R3 billion but is yet to make a net profit.
According to the analyst, Saudi Oger will need to pump in more money to help Cell C survive.
This will be on top of the R300 million invested by Saudi Oger in Cell C last year.
Last week, Cell C's chief of corporate affairs, Zeona Motshabi, confirmed that shareholders had received several takeover offers but would not comment further, as "it is solely a shareholder issue".
Cell C's other shareholders are empowerment partner CellSaf, with 40 percent, and Saudi-based Lanun Securities, with 15 percent. Saudi Oger did not respond to emailed questions or telephone messages.
Cell C trails MTN South Africa, which has 12.
5 million subscribers, and Vodacom South Africa with 20.2 million subscribers. According to analysts it is showing no prospect of profitability.
BIOFUELS Mounting global concern about the impact on the poor of diverting food crops to biofuels comes just as South Africa's fledgling biofuels industry is taking flight.
Widely read UK author and Guardian columnist, George Monbiot, last month called for a five-year freeze on biofuels because they were setting up competition for food between cars and people - a battle he believes people will lose. "Those who can afford to drive are richer than those who are in danger of starvation," Monbiot said.
Certainly, the prices of staple foods that are also used to make biofuels have rocketed, while stockpiles are dwindling. Maize prices have trebled in the last two years and wheat has hit a 10-year high.
The main reason is demand for bioethanol, which is produced from crops such as maize and sugar.
Bioethanol can be blended into petrol for a cleaner burning fuel that emits less greenhouse gas.
South Africa's first bioethanol plant is due to be commissioned next year and several others are in the pipeline. If, as expected, the government ratifies plans for a mandatory proportion of bioethanol blend into petrol, local demand for these crops will soar.
If not, the export market for bioethanol is lucrative enough.
The Organic Freedom Project, co-sponsored by Pick 'n Pay and Anglo Coal, aims to harvest significant proportions of organic crops for food as well as biofuels in the years ahead.
It aims to have 20 000 hectares under cultivation in South Africa.
The project's managing director, David Wolstenholme, says the rotation of organic crops to keep soil healthy has the benefit of producing food for people as well as vehicles. Soy, canola and sunflowers are likely crops for biofuels.
This could provide interesting possibilities for the marketing of organically grown biofuels as, on the other hand, South Africa's commercial farmers have opted for genetically modified maize to increase yields.
Almost half the country's maize crop is now genetically modified. Maize is the primary input into Ethanol Africa's first bioethanol plant, due to be commissioned next year.
The decision by Aveng, South Africa's biggest construction and engineering company, to sell its entire shareholding of almost 46 percent in cement producer Holcim South Africa is an intriguing apparent change of heart.
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