CAPE TOWN: According to data compiled by Bloomberg, The San Gwann, Malta-based Investment Company is seeking to buy businesses that are cash generative and have a proven management team, Mr Wiese, who owns a 35% stake in Brait worth about $1.4bn,.
The company agreed to pay £682m for 80% of Virgin Active, which has more than 40% of its gyms in SA. “There is a very substantial war chest depending on how one goes about monetising assets or financial structures; but Brait can do some fairly sizeable deals,” Mr Wiese, 73, said by phone from Cape Town. He is the fourth-richest South African with a personal fortune of $7bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. “Another deal in the range of R20bn to R25bn is completely within Brait’s range.”
Shareholders have pressured the company to look for targets since it agreed to sell its stake in African retailer Pepkor Holding to Steinhoff International Holdings for R26.4bn last year — SA’s biggest takeover in more than a decade. Potential deals are being sought in Europe and its home market, Brait’s South Africa CEO John Gnodde said by phone on April 16.
