End of the line for historic 123-year-old company in South Africa
Following the final winding-up order against Murray & Roberts Holdings by the High Court of South Africa, and the proposed acquisition of the Cementation and TNT businesses of Murray & Roberts Limited, the group has announced it will exit the JSE in January 2026.
This brings to an end the 123-year-old company’s time as a publicly-traded entity, with the group acknowledging that it is no longer feasible.
“The company has acknowledged that there is no prospect of it being able to distribute any returns to shareholders, nor for the company to re-establish its operations,” it said.
“In the circumstances, the continued listing of Murray & Roberts Holdings (MRH) is no longer feasible.”
As a consequence, the company intends to cooperate with the JSE Limited in implementing the removal of all the ordinary shares from the list of securities admitted to trading and the concomitant termination of its listing from the JSE.
The group said that the final day for shareholders to trade shares off-market will be 13 January 2026.
The on-market trading of the company’s shares on the JSE has been suspended since November 2024 when Murray & Robers Limited (MRL) entered into business rescue proceedings.
The removal of the listing will take place on Monday, January 19, 2026, with the record date of the removal being the Friday preceding (January 16).
Following the removal and pending completion of liquidation proceedings, shareholders will remain shareholders in an unlisted entity.
Any further communications to creditors or shareholders will be made by the provisional liquidator.
“Any further updates in respect of the company will be communicated by the provisional Liquidator, in due course,” it said.
“The company wishes to express its sincere gratitude to Shareholders for their longstanding support and
engagement throughout the course of its listing on the JSE,” it said in a final message to shareholders.
“The Board and management acknowledge and appreciate the contribution of Shareholders to the Company’s history and legacy over many years of its existence.”
Murray & Roberts Limited still working to resolution
Murray & Roberts’ history dates back to 1902, when it operated as a house builder in the Cape Colony under the name Murray & Stewart.
It was listed on the JSE in 1951 and became Murray & Roberts after merging with Roberts Construction in 1967.
However, in April 2025, MRH announced that it would be left commercially insolvent due to the ongoing business rescue proceedings at MRL.
In its interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2024, the group showed a loss before interest and tax of R646 million, up from just R2 million in the year ended June 2024.
This loss was attributed to guarantees from MRL projects being called by clients to fund project completion.
A key part of the business rescue plan is the sale of its operations to Differential Capital, which is acquiring MRL’s subsidiary mining interests.
This includes the cementation businesses in Africa and the Americas, as well as TNT in the Americas.
It is this sale that ultimately led to the liquidation of MRH, as it removed any revenue-generating assets from the holding group, making it commercially insolvent.
However, in the context of the liquidation, it’s important to note that MRH and MRL are separate legal entities.
MRL is a downstream subsidiary of MRH with several intermediate entities in between. Because of this, MRL is not associated with or affected by the MRH liquidation or the JSE delisting.
MRH confirmed that the business rescue proceedings in respect of MRL remain ongoing.
“The business rescue proceedings are not affected by the removal of listing and will continue to be administered independently under the supervision of the business rescue practitioners appointed in connection with this purpose,” it said.
Loading ...