UPDATE 69- BOC sells unit to black empowerment investors.

(From FT Investor (Stories))

African Oxygen, the South African unit of UK-based BOC Group, on Monday announced plans to sell its 69 per cent stake in Afrox Healthcare, a private hospital group, to a consortium of black businessmen for R3.1bn ($465m) in cash.

The deal is the largest black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction outside of the mining sector, where legislation passed last year compels all companies to be 15 per cent black-owned within five years, and 26 per cent within 10 years.

The South African government has been actively promoting BEE, or affirmative action, in all sectors, in order to redress the inequities of apartheid.

…