Industrial supplies conglomerate Invicta — which is controlled by retail tycoon Christo Wiese — certainly surprised the market with the appointment of Steven Joffe as new CEO.
Joffe replaces long-serving executive Arnold Goldstone, who was nudged back into the CEO's chair two years ago after the departure of Charles Walters (now the CEO at mining group Assore).
Joffe might not have been the obvious choice to succeed Goldstone, but his appointment might well prove an inspired leadership shift.
Joffe first came to prominence in the early days of the local casino sector as CEO of Gold Reef Casino & Resorts (GRCR). In truth, GRCR never held a handful of aces (compared to larger rivals Tsogo Sun and Sun International), but Joffe showed remarkable acumen in making the most of a modest hand to strategically position the group for consistent profits. It was a little surprising that Tsogo let Joffe slip away when it acquired GRCR.
Joffe is also a prime mover at investment company Wild Rose, which is a major shareholder in the perennially profitable consumer goods distributor Nu-World Holdings.
In terms of experience relevant to Invicta, Joffe — as part of Wild Rose — played a key role in revamping the old Austro Group into the diversified industrial conglomerate enX (now in the throes of a value unlocking transaction).
The market warmed (slightly) to Joffe’s appointment on Tuesday, perhaps appreciating the value of having a set of fresh eyes to look over Invicta’s sprawling operational base.
But Joffe only takes over as CEO at the start of 2020. Some shareholders might wish he could get his claws into the business a lot sooner.
L2D must take advantage of opportunities that abound
Liberty Two Degrees (L2D) shouldn’t rest on its laurels while its peers become forced sellers in SA. Some shopping centres that are very rarely up for sale will become available in the next few months.
The real-estate investment trust that owns stakes in Sandton City, Melrose Arch, Eastgate, Liberty Promenade, Botshabelo Mall and Nelson Mandela Square released financial results for the six months to June, on Monday. Executives said at its results presentation that the company would become more acquisitive but when asked what shopping centres it was considering buying, management kept mum about any specifics.
CEO Amelia Beattie said that many of the malls that were up for sale were overpriced and that L2D needed to avoid weakening the quality of its portfolio, so it was not in a rush to buy anything. But the fund has an asset base worth about R10bn, which is not very sizeable in a market where fund managers want to invest in large, liquid property counters.
L2D should consider buying Rebosis Property Fund’s prized assets: Baywest Mall in Port Elizabeth and Hemingways Mall in East London. Rebosis is selling assets in order to decrease its debt burden, and while the fund might want to hold onto these two well-established malls, it might be able to demand an attractive price for them.
Hyprop Investments, the blue-chip shopping-centre owner, is also looking to sell some of its older assets while it battles through a struggling SA economy. Two malls that Hyprop may sell are Hyde Park Corner and The Glen. Hyde Park Corner, which is 100% owned by Hyprop, is 50 years old, making it one of the oldest enclosed malls in the country. It owns 75.15% of The Glen, which is 21 years old.
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