Eskom’s bailout emerging as equity swap by biggest bondholder

South Africa’s biggest pot of available cash – R1.91-trillion of civil-servant pensions and unemployment funds managed by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) – is emerging as the key to rescuing the debt-stricken national power monopoly. The money manager has approached its parent agency, the National Treasury, with a proposal to ease the R464-billion load of obligations crushing Eskom, signaling officials are gearing up for the complex financial and political operation to convert about R95-billion of Eskom debt held by the PIC into equity.