Wrap Text
Changes to the Board
TASTE HOLDINGS LIMITED
Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa
(Registration number 2000/002239/06)
Share code: TAS ISIN: ZAE000081162
(“Taste” or “the Company”)
CHANGES TO THE BOARD
Shareholders are referred to the announcement on Monday 29 January 2018 wherein shareholders were
informed that Taste had raised R398 million through its rights offer. Shareholders are further informed that, as
previously stated, these funds will be used to settle the Company’s term debt of R273 million. Upon immediate
settlement of this debt Taste will have no long-term debt outstanding and will only be exposed to its traditional
working capital and asset-based finance facilities. This achieves the stated goal of restructuring the balance
sheet, materially de-gearing the business, and providing capital for the continued expansion of the group.
This restructure and access to further expansion capital will see an exciting new chapter in the Taste business.
Shareholders are further advised, in compliance with paragraph 3.59 of the Listings Requirements of JSE
Limited, that the following non-executive directors will, with immediate effect, resign from the board of directors
of Taste (“the Board”):
- Mr Kevin Utian: Kevin is a founding independent non-executive director of Taste and has been a
director since September 2000.
- Mr Wessel Van Der Merwe: Wessel, in his capacity as a designated adviser, listed the Company in
2006 and has been an independent non-executive director since 2011.
- Mr Hylton Rabinowitz: A non-executive director, Hylton Joined the Board in 2008 after he sold NWJ to
Taste.
- Mr Tony Berman: Tony joined the Board as an independent non-executive director in 2009 and has
chaired the Audit Committee since.
Taste would like to express its deep gratitude to these directors for their valued service to the Board and for the
pivotal roles they have played in building the Taste business and creating this platform for future growth.
Effective immediately, shareholders are further advised, in compliance with paragraph 3.59 of the Listings
Requirements of JSE Limited, of the following appointments to the Board:
- Mr Neil Brimacombe, as independent non-executive director. Neil has extensive experience in Retail
and FMCG sectors in South Africa and on the African continent. He has served in senior executive roles
for multinational companies such as Tiger Brands, and Unilever PLC. During his time at Tiger Brands,
he served as an Executive Director with Tiger Brands Ltd, a non-executive director for various
subsidiaries on the continent as well as Latin America. He has wide experience across the retail
business value chain – including improving profitability and efficiencies, turnaround of underperforming
divisions, strategy development, and supply chain optimisation. He recently left Tiger Brands to set up a
retail consultancy assisting clients to identify markets to establish their business in Africa. Neil holds a
B.Comm (Hons) as well as a Master of Business Leadership from the University of South Africa.
- Ms Zukie Siyotula, as independent non-executive director. Zukie is a former CEO of Thebe Capital
responsible for looking after a portfolio of strategic investments across various sectors. She holds a CA
(SA); ACMA; MBA and Executive Programmes from Harvard, Insead and Oxford. Her diverse
professional experience ranges from general management, finance, corporate governance, strategy,
restructuring, business development, through to sales and distribution. Zukie has served on a number of
non-profit, public and listed boards including, Shell SA, Altech Netstar, Vodacom SA, SAfripol, STISA
and Sekelo Oil Trading. Prior to joining the Thebe Group, Zukie held various senior positions at the
Barclays Africa Group, Old Mutual Retail Mass, Royal Bafokeng Holdings and South African Breweries.
In March 2016 Zukie joined the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders under the age of 40.
Zukie currently serves on the boards of Growthpoint, African Phoenix Investments, StanGen and
Spechpharm.
- Mr Adrian Maizey, as non-executive director. Adrian is a partner at Protea Asset Management LLC
(“Protea”) and has extensive experience in managing investment firms focused on controlling ownership
stakes in both private and public companies. Adrian holds the chief financial officer and president titles
for Protea. Before joining Protea, Adrian was chief operating officer and chief compliance officer of
Leonard Green & Partners, LP, a Los Angeles based private equity firm. Prior to that, Adrian was a
partner at Redbird Capital Partners LLC, a New York City based private equity firm. Adrian also formerly
held the positions of chief financial officer and chief compliance officer of ESL Investments, Inc., a well-
known value investment fund. Adrian was the chief executive officer and founder of Rand Group LLC
which provided a full spectrum of support and advisory services to investment funds. Adrian was chief
financial officer of Motherrock LP, an energy derivatives hedge fund. Prior to that, Adrian spent a
decade with Deloitte & Touche LLP serving primarily the investment management and energy industries
as a management consultant and member of Deloitte’s Financial Advisory Services, Corporate Finance,
and Energy Trading Risk management practices. Adrian holds an MBA from Harvard Business School
(2003) and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Nebraska (1996) and is
a Certified Public Accountant. Adrian currently serves as a non-executive director of Conduit Capital
Limited.
- Mr Leo Chou, as independent non-executive director. Leo is the Executive Chairman of Sygma
Investments, a private investment company based in Cape Town, with holdings in International brand
distribution, retail, niche logistics, investments in marketable securities and treasury management.
Amongst others, Sygma built Brazilian Sandals Company, using the Havaianas trademark, from scratch
to over R100 million in annual revenue. Leo is the founding member and former chairperson and chief
executive officer of Snowball Wealth Proprietary Limited, a privately held investment company, which
was sold to Conduit Capital Limited in 2017. Leo has 15 years of investment and capital allocation
experience. For the nine years that Leo managed Snowball, the net assets of the business grew more
than 30 times. Leo obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of South Africa. Leo
currently serves as a non-executive director of Conduit Capital Limited.
The board sub-committees will have the following chairpersons:
Audit and Risk Committee: Ms Zuckie Siyothula;
Nominations Committee: Mr Grant Pattison;
Remunerations Committee: Mr Neil Brimacombe; and
Social, Ethics and Transformation Committee: Mr Adrian Maizey.
Taste welcomes the new appointees and chairpersons of the committees and looks forward to their
contributions to the business.
Johannesburg
1 February 2018
Sponsor
Merchantec Capital
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