JSE-listed Wescoal Holdings' shareholders have voted in favour of the group’s proposed name change to Salungano Group.
Based on the outcome of the vote, which received nearly 100% approval from Wescoal shareholders, the name change will go ahead. A finalisation announcement regarding the name change is expected on March 29, once the change has been registered with the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission.
The JSE previously gave its approval for the change.
The name change comes on the back of Wescoal’s plans to diversify out of coal.
As reported by Mining Weekly on January 31, the new name was chosen to better reflect the group’s diversification strategy, even though it would continue to have “strong roots in coal mining.”
Wescoal said it aimed to invest in multiple industries and diverse sectors of the economy, underpinned by a strong focus on environmental, social and governance considerations.
In changing its name and identity, Wescoal said it aimed to also change the way it positioned itself in the market, as well as in the diverse industries and sectors that it will be investing in.
The group explained that ‘salungano’ was a Venda word for passing on knowledge, heritage, a vision and generational mission through storytelling. Wescoal believed this would aptly describe the passing on of assets.