Pharmacy group Dis-Chem said on Wednesday that the founding Saltzman family enjoyed strong demand in a partial share sale linked to a handover of management, raising R1.96bn.
Dis-Chem said on Tuesday that its co-founder and outgoing CEO Ivan Saltzman would sell a stake of the 7.5% of the retail pharmacy held in an investment company to selected investors, with a further percentage to be sold to senior management, including his successor Rui Morais.
Morais, the company’s CFO who has been its public face in recent years, will replace Saltzman as CEO after getting the nod from the nomination committee. The takeover date has not been given.
The retail pharmacy was founded in 1978 by Saltzman and his wife, Lynette, both newly qualified pharmacists, who opened their first store in Mondeor, south of Johannesburg.
Dis-Chem announced that Ivlyn Local Investment Holdings, which holds Saltzman’s shares, will sell shares making up 7.5% of the group shares to specific shareholders if it achieves “acceptable pricing”.
Saltzman wants to sell a further 3.75% to senior managers as part of a management retention scheme. The executives, including Morais, will be unable to sell their shares for the next 10 years.
The group said on Wednesday the sale of about 64.5-million shares raised R1.96bn at R30.30 per share, with Ivlyn now holding 45.2%.
The price represents a 4% discount to the pre-launch closing price of R31.55 per share on Tuesday.
With Katharine Child
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