The deal would have seen MuAfrika-led black empowerment consortium acquiring 50% of Colliers' property management division from Quyn for R9m.

Quyn says the consortium failed to furnish the agreed guarantees in respect of the purchase price.

The company says it has sought legal advice regarding the non-performance by the consortium, and has come to regard the proposed disposal agreement as cancelled.

The other members of the consortium were Numsa Investment Company and the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA's investment arm, Dihold.

Quyn CEO Ricky Fertig says his company is highly disappointed by the consortium's performance as it had suggested that everything, including finance, was in order when the deal was announced.

'We waited patiently but these guys never came up with the money,' says Fertig.

He says the group is investigating alternative empowerment proposals and had three offers on the table.

MuAfrika CEO, Deena Chetty, says there are a number of reasons why the deal collapsed, but they cannot be made public because they touch on 'private and confidential' matters.

Word is that the empowerment consortium was disappointed by an international finance house which had promised to fund the deal but backed off at the eleventh hour.

The pricing of the proposed transaction also caused alarm at the announcement earlier this year and placed the deal under severe scrutiny. The main concern was that the black empowerment consortium, which had accepted a R9m price, was overpaying for the assets subject to the sale.

Colliers has come a long way with its parent company Quyn, rejecting a number of purchase offers during the course of last year.

Colliers former suitors include big names like RMB Properties and Broll Properties, who are said to have backed off because of the price tag.

Quyn purchased Colliers from Johnnic in 1998, bringing on board the founders of the property services group Pat Flanagan and Peter Gerrard.

Colliers was in the news recently after Flanagan and Gerrard left the group early last year following a dispute with Quyn's board. Quyn took over management of Colliers.

Colliers had slipped into severe financial difficulties, which according to Quyn were mainly attributable to nonrecurring rationalisation costs. Fertig says following a major restructuring programme announced last year the group is back on track.

Business Day