Bonatla Property Holdings, assisted by former director Niki Vontas, is on the verge of signing a deal that will see it effectively buy half the shares in the Durban Point Development for R150m, allowing Malaysian company Renong to withdraw from SA.

The sale agreement, in Business Day's possession and dated January 8, shows that the deal is structured in such a way that Renong will sell its entire investment in Renong SA, whose main asset is 80,4% of a company called Rocunion, to Bonatla.

Rocunion owns 100% of Rocpoint, which in turn owns half of the Durban Point Development Company, which stands to make a lot of money from the reinvigoration of the Durban port area.

The transaction, as well as others by Bonatla, is in the final stages of being thrashed out and is expected to be announced to shareholders in the next few days, although the deals are still subject to various approvals.

However, questions have already arisen over the deal, including the fact that documents show Bonatla will pay R39m in fees to three advisory parties, including R10m to CDA Consultants, which is run by Bonatla director Carolyn Douglas.

But the Renong deal is also structured in such a way that it allows Bonatla to get its hands on the stake in the Durban Point Development Company, while bypassing Renong's South African empowerment partner, Vulindlela Investments, which owns the remaining 19,6% of Rocunion and has a pre-emptive right to acquire the other 80,4%.

For Renong, this is an important step as the Malaysian company has been involved in setting up the Durban Point Development since the 1990s. Renong was recently drawn into the Shabir Shaik trial, as one of the state's claims was that political influence was brought to bear to include Shaik for a cut in the Durban Point development project.

Until recently, Bonatla was something of a shell company without major assets, but has got a new lease on life as it sets about buying new assets, a rescue operation Bonatla said last month was due mainly to "CDA Property Consultants and their consultant, Niki Vontas". Until May 2004, Vontas was a Bonatla director.

Last month, however, Bonatla flagged the Durban Point announcement as a R200m "investment/development precinct in the Durban Metropolitan".

The sale agreement, however, says that Renong would be paid R150m for its shares in Renong SA, and its investment in Rocpoint, R35m of which must be paid by Monday.

A "memorandum of understanding" signed between Bonatla and the three advisory parties, also in Business Day's possession and signed on January 8, said, "Bonatla is to pay the R150m purchase price to Renong ? (through) R35m payable in cash on the effective date ? and the balance by way of the issuing of scrip in Bonatla to Renong".

The memorandum says a fee of R39m "plus value-added tax shall be paid by Bonatla", with 25% of that going to CDA, 25% to a Durban-based retail company Al Mashkour, and the rest to another Durban-based intermediation firm called Contense Investments.

Renong director Zahid Dasahi said from Malaysia that the deal was far from finalised, but said that "when the transaction is completed, we will get paid in cash", not shares. Another source close to Bonatla, who did not want to be named, said the intention was to place the Bonatla shares for the outstanding fee with third parties, so the Malaysians were paid in cash.

Business Day