Financial services group Alexander Forbes [JSE:AFH] has slammed media reports about a proposed sale of one of its units, saying it believes the stories were leaked by a "disgruntled former employee" and were "inaccurate in many respects".
It said its board was investigating the matter.
The group did not name the employee or say in what capacity they were previously employed.
This follows an article in Business Report, which stated that the financial services firm was involved in a deal to sell its short-term insurance business. The report, published on March 4, quoted "sources at Alexander Forbes".
Another article, published by Business Report on March 5, stated that African Rainbow Capital was involved in a deal to increase its shareholding in the group. This article quoted "a source close to Alexander Forbes".
Fin24 could not independently verify whether the reports were correct.
In a statement to shareholders on Tuesday afternoon, Alexander Forbes said - without specifying exactly which articles it was referring to - that the "adverse" media commentary was "factually inaccurate in many respects, contain[ed] speculative and misleading comment and [relied] on unrelated and dated information".
Alexander Forbes said its board had "reason to believe, on a balance of probabilities," that a former employee leaked the information.
It said disclosing confidential company information was a breach of fiduciary duties.
It added it believed the purpose of leaking the information was to discredit it and its largest shareholder, African Rainbow Capital.
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