Wiese replaces his son on board

Retail tycoon Christo Wiese has replaced his son, Jacob Wiese, as his alternate on the board of investment holding company Brait, with the former head of RMB’s global corporate finance business, Paul Roelofse.

Retail tycoon Christo Wiese has replaced his son, Jacob Wiese, as his alternate on the board of investment holding company Brait, with the former head of RMB’s global corporate finance business, Paul Roelofse.

Roelofse is a co-founder of Oryx Partners, which will manage Wiese’s family office and be a strategic business partner for the family. A qualified chartered accountant, Roelofse had “led a number of pioneering transactions during his banking career”, the statement read.

The move follows an announcement on Monday that Titan, which holds Wiese’s stake in Brait, had sold 27-million shares to Mergence Investment Managers, for R14.50 a share.

That has increased Mergence’s investment in Brait to 9% from 4%.

As part of the transaction, Titan and Mergence have entered into a voting pool arrangement representing 46.35% of Brait’s issued capital.

“Titan is thus fully aligned with the Board of Brait in working with Brait’s corporate advisers to materially reduce the debt on Brait’s balance sheet, drive the performance of Brait’s portfolio companies with the support of the investee company management teams and to significantly reduce Brait’s net operating costs,” Brait said.

Brait’s share price rose 1% to R15.10 as at 12.30am on Thursday, but has fallen 49.7% so far in 2019.

ROELOFSE IS A COFOUNDER OF ORYX PARTNERS, WHICH WILL MANAGE WIESE’S FAMILY OFFICE AND BE A STRATEGIC PARTNER