Brian Joffe
Photo by: Duane Daws
The Bidvest group is streamlining its business structure into three distinct and independent companies, each with its own statutory board of directors comprising senior executive management and independent directors, describing the move as an effort to improve management focus, identify acquisition opportunities and mitigate the specific risks and challenges faced by each business.
The newly formed Bidvest Industrial Holdings (BIH) would house the current Bidvest South Africa division and the Bidvest Namibia interest, while Bidvest Foodservice International (BFI) would house the international and local foodservice operations and Bidvest Capital (BC) the South African property portfolio and the investments in companies in which the group did not own majority stakes or exercise management control.
BIH, which would see Lindsay Ralphs and Peter Meijer continuing in their respective roles as CEO and CFO and would introduce Lorato Phalatse as chairperson, would comprise all operations in Southern Africa, excluding the local foodservice operations and interests held by BC.
BFI, meanwhile, would be headed up by Brian Joffe as chairperson, Bernard Berson as CEO and David Cleasby as CFO.
BC would house Adcock Ingram Holdings, Comair, Cullinan Holdings and Mumbai International Airport Private and would be headed up by Joffe as CEO.
The reshuffle was also expected to provide greater transparency with regard to the nature of the various divisions’ activities and the geographies in which they operated.
“The restructure will also allow flexibility to anticipate and react to changes within the specific market segments and economic landscapes and will position BC to expeditiously capture investment opportunities that are not in conflict with either BIH or BFI,” the group said in a statement.