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Thomas Edison wanted to own American film. Instead, through essentially operating a cartel, he drove it 5,000 kilometres west and gave the world Hollywood. Dominique Olivier tells the wild story that few people know about the inventor of the light bulb.

Alexforbes posts single-digit growth. Master Drilling has declared a dividend based on recent trading conditions. MC Mining is raising debt from two shareholders. Novus has a small earnings decline. Trematon found a buyer for Generation Education.

Weekly summary of Merger & Acquisition activity by South African companies.

Weekly summary of corporate finance activity by South African exchange listed companies.

Weekly summary of all M&A, financial and debt market activity from across Africa (excluding South Africa).

The answer to the transferability question is not uniform. It depends on the nature of the transaction.

The “growth at all costs” model has given way to a harder-nosed calculus - profitability, regulatory moats, and scale.

The Finance Ghost welcomes Altron CEO Werner Kapp fresh off a standout capital markets day that left a strong impression: this is a business whose growth story isn’t tightly tethered to South Africa’s traditional economic constraints. From FinTech and HealthTech to telematics and IT security, Altron operates a portfolio of platform businesses that quietly underpin everyday life, even if most consumers don’t realise it!  In this conversation, Werner unpacks how these platforms drive resilient, annuity-style revenues, while also leaning into powerful structural tailwinds like digitisation, mobile adoption and the evolution of the payments ecosystem.