South Africa’s telecommunication and information technology company FoneWorx on Thursday disclosed that it has entered into back-to-back transactions to repurchase the Industrial Development Corporation’s (IDC) 30 percent stake in the company, and to sell the shares to entrepreneurs Isaac and William Kirsh.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Smith described the Kirsh family’s investment in the company which he said created a “strong platform for growth” with a longer-term vision of aligning FoneWorx with assets that the Kirshes had built up recently.

Under the arrangement, the repurchased shares would be sold to the Kirsh family at the same price and value they were bought which would increase the Kirsh family’s stake in FoneWorx to 33 percent, with the balance largely owned by directors of the company.

This transaction is described by FoneWorx as the first step in the development of a “strong strategic relationship” between the company and the Kirsh family’s interests.