Balwin Properties is exiting the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) after a buyout led by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), and the company’s plans after delisting featured on a Moneyweb SAfm market update published on 22 September 2026. The same programme covered a response from the National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight and Logistics Industry (NBCRFLI) to questions about its financial management, and a new bid to bring Formula 1 to South Africa.
Why Balwin is leaving the JSE
The delisting follows a take-private offer announced on 20 May 2026. Under the scheme, a buyer vehicle backed by the PIC, which acts for the Government Employees Pension Fund, founders Steve Brookes and Rodney Gray, and GRE Africa offered R4.35 in cash per share, valuing Balwin at about R2.26bn. The offer was a 4.1% premium to the company’s six-month volume-weighted average trading price. Shareholders holding about 63.5% of the shares had committed their support, and on 17 August 2026 some 98.48% of shareholders attending the general meeting voted in favour of the scheme, according to Daily Investor. Once the deal is finalised, Balwin will be delisted and operate as a private company.
A delisting means the firm moves from a public share-trading platform to private ownership. Listed companies must publish material information promptly under JSE rules, while a private company does not carry the same public reporting obligation. Balwin chief executive Steve Brookes has said the transaction creates a capital event that lets the developer develop large tracts of land and roll out infrastructure around its projects, and that it plans new projects in the Western Cape, according to Property Flash. Management and other reinvesting shareholders are to stay invested alongside the PIC, which would hold about 49% of the private company.
NBCRFLI responds on workers’ benefit funds
The NBCRFLI is the statutory bargaining council for the road freight and logistics industry. It manages sick pay, holiday pay and leave pay funds for workers in the sector. The council used the same programme to respond to questions about its financial management.
The questions stem from a dispute with Innovative Staffing Solutions (ISS). After a High Court order obliged the council to publish its financial statements, an analysis found that R2.59bn meant for workers’ benefits was listed as the council’s own property, and that separate accounts for each benefit fund were missing. The council denies mismanagement. It says the R2.59bn belongs solely to industry employees, that the law and its agreements require one consolidated statement, and that its external auditors have given unqualified opinions for 10 consecutive years, according to BusinessTech. It describes the allegations as retaliation linked to a separate dispute with ISS. These are claims by the parties to the dispute and have not been independently verified here.
A new Formula 1 bid
In a separate segment, the programme looked at South Africa’s Formula 1 ambitions. A consortium called Blue Mountain Racing, led by former Sibanye-Stillwater executive chairman Neal Froneman, has proposed a R6.7bn motorsport and property development on about 600 hectares of land in the Swartland, near Cape Town, with a Formula 1 circuit at its core. The target is a race in 2031, but the project is at an early stage: no funding is committed yet and, according to BusinessTech, equity funders want an agreement with Formula 1 first. The development is not connected to Balwin.
The programme also asked who should prepare graduates for the local economy, with a contribution from the private education provider Eduvos.
What to watch
Balwin’s delisting is subject to the scheme being implemented, so readers should check the company’s announcements on the JSE for the final dates. The company’s plans under private ownership beyond what Brookes has said publicly were not detailed in the programme summary.
