Shares tumble as investor appetite for Taste wanes

DURBAN – Taste Holdings yesterday continued its freefall on the JSE, shaving off more than R15 million of its market value after announcing that it had applied for the liquidation of its food business for R450m.

Taste said yesterday that it decided to offload the business after it incurred R450m in shareholder loans.

The group said the loans were expected to be written off following an inability to find a buyer for its troubled Domino’s Pizza franchise.

It said it has already closed 55 of its corporate stores and 770 employees would be affected by the sale.

The liquidation comes after Taste announced last year that it entered into an agreement to sell the Starbucks master franchise licence for South Africa for R7m.