Dan and Mark Saltzman, the heirs of Dis-Chem founder Ivan Saltzman, have sold shares worth more than R640m, seven months after their parents gave them shares worth nearly R7bn.
In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the group said Dan and Mark, who are said to have emigrated from South Africa, had sold about 17.6-million of their Dis-Chem shares over the past two months.
Dis-Chem did not indicate whether the brothers will be selling further shares in the future.
In June last year, Ivan distributed about 217-million shares worth R6.8bn at the time to Dan and Mark, through Ivlyn Local Investment Holdings (Ivlyn). After the distribution, Ivlyn was left with a 4.06% interest in the group, substantially down from the 29.31% it held before the transaction.
Dan and Mark individually owned beneficial interest in the company of 12.62% following the transaction, an exposure they have now reduced. Dan and Mark do not sit on the group’s board, nor do they serve in any executive positions, with their new shareholding likely to see a board reshuffle.
The business was founded by Ivan and his wife Lynette in 1978 and listed on the JSE in 2016. The family introduced the concept of a discount pharmacy with product categories not previously offered in South African pharmacies. The group has grown to operate 355 retail stores, comprising 313 Dis-Chem Pharmacy stores and 42 Dis-Chem Baby City stores around the country.
The group’s executive director, Stanley Goetsch, has sold R82m worth of shares since January
In 2024 Ivan sold R1.4bn of his shares in the company in a deal that reduced the family’s stake in the business to 29.31% from 35.12%.
Seventy-six-year-old Saltzman stepped down as the group’s CEO in June 2023, handing the reins to Rui Morais, the group’s former CFO. Saltzman retained his seat on the group’s executive team and board. However, he is set to step down as executive director at the end of June, and take up the role of non-executive director deputy chair.
The group’s executive director, Stanley Goetsch, has sold R82m worth of shares since January.
Dis-Chem is expected to publish its annual results in May.
Founding families selling down their exposure is nothing new. The Van der Walt brothers, who founded second-hand vehicle dealership WeBuyCars, sold about R866m of the group’s shares last month, two years after taking the company public.
The reason given by WeBuyCars was that the sale formed part of a “considered process of portfolio management, rebalancing and diversification, particularly in light of the company’s share price performance over an extended period, which had resulted in the directors’ shareholding representing a disproportionately large portion of their personal wealth.”
The company was quick to indicate that the brothers did not intend to sell any further shares in the near future.
Business Day
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