HUGE GROUP LIMITED - Appointment of independent non-executive chairman and changes to directors roles

Appointment of independent non-executive chairman and changes to directors’ roles

HUGE GROUP LIMITED
(Registration number 2006/023587/06)
Share code: HUG   ISIN: ZAE000102042
(“Huge” or “the Company”)


APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND CHANGES
TO DIRECTORS’ ROLES

Huge today confirmed that it has appointed Dr Duarte da Silva as the
Company’s Independent Non-Executive Chairman. Dr da Silva’s
appointment will take effect from 1 March 2016 when he will take the reins
from the current non-executive Chairman, Mr Vincent Mokholo. Mr Mokholo
will remain as a non-executive director of Huge. In addition to fulfilling the
role of Chairman, Dr da Silva will also serve as a member of Huge’s Audit
Committee and Risk Committee.

Dr da Silva has more than 20 years’ experience in the investment industry. He
holds a doctorate of Philosophy in Engineering from the University of the
Witwatersrand, which he obtained at the age of 24. In 1988/1989 he lectured
Thermodynamics and Propulsion Systems at Wits University.

Until recently he was Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie First South (MFS), a
joint venture established in 2006 between Macquarie Bank of Australia and
First South Financial Services (a company that he founded in 2001/2002 with
the backing of the J&J Group, supported by Old Mutual). In 2013 Macquarie
appointed Dr da Silva as Regional Head – Sub Saharan Africa – responsible
for all of their African activities. He presided as Executive Chairman of the
Corporate Finance and Equities businesses of MFS, including all Equity Capital
Markets activities. He also had oversight of two other Macquarie businesses in
South Africa: AIIM (the largest and oldest infrastructure fund in the region -
until recently a joint venture with Old Mutual) and MSSA (the structuring and
derivatives business). Dr da Silva left the Macquarie group at the end of 2015,
after successfully selling the MFS joint venture to Macquarie Bank.

In 2001, Dr da Silva founded First South Financial Services while assuming the
Chief Investment Officer role for the J&J Group. Between 2001 and 2005 Dr
da Silva actively identified and executed numerous investments for the J&J
Group.

He is a past director of Merrill Lynch South Africa (Merrill Lynch). While at
Merrill Lynch (from 1994 to 1998) he was rated as the number one analyst
covering the technology/electronics and industrials/diversified sectors. In
1998 he founded a technology fund with the support of institutional backers
(“the Fund”). The Fund was established to conduct primarily private equity,
technology-related investments. The Fund completed 18 successful
investments (with notable IPOs in Helsinki, London and Johannesburg) and
was used to assume control of McCarthy Bank. Dr da Silva was Deputy
Chairman of McCarthy Bank.

The Board welcomes Dr da Silva and looks forward to a long and mutually
beneficial relationship between him and the Company.

In addition to the above changes, Mr Zunaid Bulbulia has been assigned a
role by the Board of Directors of Huge which, in their view, may impair his
independence. Accordingly, Mr Bulbulia will, with effect from 24 February
2016, be categorised as a non-executive director of Huge.

Johannesburg
24 February 2016

Designated Adviser
Questco (Pty) Ltd

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