South African tycoon Jens Montanana's Datatec to return $432 million dividend to shareholders

Datatec, the Johannesburg-listed technology group founded by South African businessman Jens Montanana, will return about R7 billion ($432 million) to shareholders through a special dividend, handing its founder a windfall of roughly R1.3 billion ($79.5 million).

The company said it would pay a special cash dividend of R29 ($1.78) a share, funded by a refinancing of its Westcon International subsidiary that brought in the US investment firm General Atlantic as a lender and minority investor.

Under the deal, General Atlantic provided a new six-year senior secured debt facility of $375 million to partly refinance an existing $450 million shareholder loan within the Westcon structure, and made a cash equity co-investment to take a 5 percent stake in Westcon International Group Holdings. The proceeds flow back to Datatec, which is passing them to shareholders.

Montanana said Datatec would keep control of the business while partnering with General Atlantic, describing the firm as one of the world's leading providers of capital acting as both a minority investor and a lender.

As Datatec's largest individual shareholder, with about 18.33 percent of the company, Montanana stands to collect the biggest single payout. His roughly 41 million shares translate into a special dividend of around R1.3 billion ($79.5 million), one of the larger personal windfalls from a South African listed company in recent years.

The payout is the second special dividend Datatec has delivered in a short span, rewarding investors as the company reshapes the financing of its two main operating arms, Westcon-Comstor and Logicalis. Both distribute and integrate technology for corporate clients across dozens of countries.

Datatec has framed the Westcon refinancing as a way to strengthen the unit's balance sheet and position it for growth, particularly as demand rises for the networking, cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure that underpins the rollout of artificial intelligence. The company has also continued to expand through acquisitions.

The special dividend adds to a strong run for Datatec shareholders, whose holdings have gained as the group's earnings and share price climbed over the past year. The stock has been among the better performers on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange's technology segment.

Montanana founded Datatec in 1986 and built it into a global technology distributor and services group operating far beyond South Africa, with the bulk of its revenue earned in international markets. The latest distribution underlines how much value the founder retains in the business he created.