Staff Reporter
CALL him a shrewd businessman, shareholder activist or loan shark. But one thing that seems clear is that Nicholas van Hoogst-raten has now become a dreaded personality in Zimbabwean corporate politics that no director or executive would want to cross his path.
Van Hoogstraten, who describes himself as a personal friend of President Robert Mugabe, has over the years created more foes than allies in his endeavour to gain control and influence mainly on Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed (ZSE) companies.
Still driving an old Range Rover with the distinctive "Mr Nick" registration plates, he says he has been inspired by the late Lonhro boss, Roland "Tiny" Rowland, to live a simple life unlike most flamboyant directors in this country.
Many now equate him with South Africa's Theo Botha, an active shareholder on most Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed counters who has caused sleepless nights for most company executives. His call is a relentless struggle for good corporate governance.
The difference between the two businessmen could be the depth of their pockets and their interests in companies they invest in. Van Hoogstraten is a controversial British multi-millionaire with interests in real estate, mining, tourism and financial services.
He has previously bailed out several institutions, including flag carrier, Air Zimbabwe. Last year, he said in an interview: "I have, during the past few years, made relatively small short-term emergency loans to Air Zimbabwe on an interest-free basis."
Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, described him as a lender-of-last-resort and a "loan shark".
During the last decade, "Mr Nick" has had fights at NMBZ Holdings, which wholly owns NMBZ Bank Limited; Hwange Colliery Limited; and at the Rainbow Tourism Group.
His fights have not endeared him with executives running the firms, his cause has often been misunderstood until a corporate implosion takes place.
Understandably, he has now taken his fight to CFI Holdings, a diversified conglomerate with interests in poultry, milling (stockfeeds, maize meal and flour), sackfoods, manufacturing, irrigation and retail (some of the interests in this sector have been sold).
Van Hoog, as some want to call him, has been consistent, but he can experience so bad a temper that its possible for him to berate board members and their management should he feel they are sleeping on the job.
His fight with ZSE-listed hospitality group, Rainbow Tourism Group, has by and large been his longest.
After his bid to secure representation on the Rainbow Tourism Group board flopped last year, van Hoogstraten patiently waited for a time to hit back. And now, the tables have turned.
The British business tycoon is now positioned to put a detour sign on the troubled group's capital raising initiative. Information at hand shows that RTG has offered him a chance to nominate three board members in exchange for his nod in the capital injection exercise. But he chose to keep his cards close to his chest; he might demand more than that - the entire board should step down, he believes, in order to turnaround the hospitality group.
Current indications suggest that he could have won the battle but lost the war on RTG as the group continues to operate in the red due to a debt problem.
Below are some headlines which captured van Hoogstraten's corporate disputes
October 2005: Van Hoogstraten strikes again
January 2006: ‘Van Hoogstraten not major NMB shareholder'
January 2006:-Van Hoogstraten wants Kwashirai out
July 2006: Mercurial van Hoogstraten loses out
July 2006: RTG shares war far from over: van Hoogstraten
December 2006: I blame Mandaza for stolen shares: Van Hoogstraten
May 2009: Van Hoogstraten tells RTG directors to go
May 2009: We will not budge: RTG board
June 2009: Van's gun still loaded and ready to shoot
May 2011: Loan sharks blast Biti
June 2011: Govt, van Hoogstraten clash
June 2011-‘Van Hoog's dream crashes'
July 2011: Van Hoog blocks Hwange AGM
July 2011: The lone voice of shareholder activism
August: ‘Nobody steals my money'
September 2011: Van Hoog pulls plug on RTG.
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