Investment management firm Allan Gray has sold off just less than 19percent of its shareholding in a black empowerment deal, the company said this week.

Investment management firm Allan Gray has sold off just less than 19percent of its shareholding in a black empowerment deal, the company said this week.

It also said the firm's founder Allan Gray had donated R1,1billion from the sale to support initiatives that include comprehensive funding for university students wanting to become entrepreneurs.

Allan Gray is the largest privately owned investment management firm in southern Africa.

The deal, with a trust named E2, brings black ownership of the unlisted Allan Gray to 20 percent.

E2's chairman is Thando Mhlambiso, who headed up private equity at Sanlam Investment Managers, and his co-trustees are businesswoman Imogen Mkhize and Mahesh Cooper, Allan Gray's head of Orbis client servicing in South Africa.

The company said none of them had "any beneficial interest" in E2, adding that "the over-riding purpose of E2, as a long-term capital fund, is to foster excellence in entrepreneurship by providing subsidised financing to new business owners".

The company said that as a token of their appreciation for the contributions of everyone at Allan Gray, Gray and his wife would pay for the education of children of staff earning less than R250000 a year. - Sapa