Softline is set to end its seven-year roller-coaster ride on the JSE Securities Exchange by buying out its minority shareholders and taking itself off the market.

The accounting and payroll group plans to pay out its minority shareholders R1.30 a share and terminate its listing under the terms of a proposal for a management consortium backed by Investec and Rand Merchant Bank to acquire all of Softline`s equity.

Lara Jawitz, Softline`s investor relations director, says Softline`s management is frustrated with a stagnant share price and the negative market perceptions that surround the group. These are much the same issues that have driven other IT groups such as MB Technologies, Rectron and Unihold to desert the JSE in the past two years.