South African engineering and construction group Murray & Roberts will exit the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in January 2026, bringing to an end 123 years of history as a publicly traded company after it was declared commercially insolvent.
The decision follows a final winding-up order granted by the High Court of South Africa against Murray & Roberts Holdings (MRH), the group’s holding company, which said it no longer had the capacity to continue as a listed entity.
“The company has acknowledged that there is no prospect of it being able to distribute any returns to shareholders, nor for the company to re-establish its operations,” MRH said in a statement.
“In the circumstances, the continued listing of Murray & Roberts Holdings is no longer feasible.”
The group said it would work with the JSE to remove all its ordinary shares from trading. The final day for shareholders to trade the shares off-market will be January 13, 2026, while the formal delisting is scheduled for January 19, with a record date of January 16.
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Trading in Murray & Roberts shares on the JSE has been suspended since November 2024, when its main operating subsidiary, Murray & Roberts Limited (MRL), entered business rescue proceedings.
Following the delisting and pending the completion of liquidation, shareholders will retain their interests in an unlisted entity. Any further communication with creditors or shareholders will be handled by the provisional liquidator, the company said.
Murray & Roberts traced its origins to 1902, when it began operating as a house builder in the Cape Colony under the name Murray & Stewart. It was listed on the JSE in 1951 and adopted the Murray & Roberts name after merging with Roberts Construction in 1967.
The group’s financial position deteriorated sharply in recent years. In April 2025, MRH said it had become commercially insolvent as a result of the prolonged business rescue process at MRL.
In its interim results for the six months to December 31, 2024, the group reported a loss before interest and tax of 646 million rand, compared with a loss of 2 million rand in the year ended June 2024. The losses were largely attributed to guarantees on MRL projects being called by clients to fund the completion of contracts.
A central element of the business rescue plan involves the sale of MRL’s operations to Differential Capital, including its mining-related cementation businesses in Africa and the Americas, as well as TNT operations in the Americas.
The disposal stripped MRH of its remaining revenue-generating assets, ultimately leading to its liquidation, the group said.
However, MRH stressed that it and MRL are separate legal entities, and that the liquidation and delisting of the holding company do not affect the ongoing business rescue proceedings at MRL.
“The business rescue proceedings are not affected by the removal of listing and will continue to be administered independently,” MRH said.
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In a final message to shareholders, the group thanked investors for their long-standing support, saying the board and management “acknowledge and appreciate the contribution of shareholders to the company’s history and legacy over many years.”
