{"id":62,"date":"2014-08-05T15:41:11","date_gmt":"2014-08-05T13:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.remgro.com\/about-remgro\/history\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T17:48:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T15:48:32","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.remgro.com\/about-remgro\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"Company history"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p class=\"lead\">[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]\n<p class=\"heading-2\" style=\"color: var(--dark-grey);\">Creating shareholder value since 1948<\/p>\n<p><!--p class=\"quote\">Over the <span class=\"bold-xlg text-gold\">76 years of our rich history,<\/span> we pride ourselves in our <span class=\"bold-xlg text-gold\">proven track record<\/span> to deliver superior returns to shareholders by timeously <span class=\"bold-xlg text-gold\">identifying opportunities<\/span> presented by newly established, maturing and\/or pivoting industries and business models.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\n<p class=\"quote\">History also shows that we take our responsibility to be a <span class=\"bold-xlg text-gold\">good corporate citizen<\/span> seriously and strive to ensure this remains part of our core value system. As the future unfolds, <span class=\"bold-xlg text-gold\">we are committed<\/span> to playing <span class=\"bold-xlg text-gold\">a leading role in<\/span> driving the <span class=\"bold-xlg text-gold\">sustainability agenda.<\/span><\/p--><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<a href=\"https:\/\/www.remgro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Company-History-1-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click here to enlarge<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-10403 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.remgro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Company-History-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;1940s&#8221; tab_id=&#8221;1603130665179-7fdb5ac8-6921&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]Remgro\u2019s founding history goes back to the 1940s when the founder of the Group, Dr Anton Rupert, established the tobacco company Voorbrand, forerunner of Rembrandt Group Limited (Rembrandt), in Johannesburg, South Africa. Rembrandt was incorporated in 1948.<\/p>\n<p>Rembrandt entered the South African cigarette and tobacco industry in 1948 and in the 1950s expanded overseas through international partnerships.<\/p>\n<p>Rembrandt\u2019s interests in the wine and spirits industry also date back to the 1940s when Dr Rupert and Mr D W R Hertzog founded Distillers Corporation.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;1950s&#8221; tab_id=&#8221;1603130665189-6f478175-bd72&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]Rembrandt was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1956.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;1970s&#8221; tab_id=&#8221;1603131422173-3d3a3ad2-786f&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In 1972, the overseas tobacco interests of Rembrandt were consolidated in Rothmans International, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange.<\/p>\n<p>Since the 1970s Rembrandt expanded its interests outside tobacco, wine and spirits with investments in various other economic sectors in South Africa, amongst which were banking and financial services, mining, printing and packaging, medical services, engineering and food interests.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;1980s&#8221; tab_id=&#8221;1603132404689-4df51378-b0a1&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In 1988 the separation of local and overseas interests was affected by the founding of Compagnie Financi\u00e8re Richemont AG (Richemont) \u2013 a Swiss-listed luxury goods group that included brands such as <i>Cartier, Dunhill<\/i> and <i>Mont Blanc<\/i> which then acquired a share in Rothmans International.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;1990s&#8221; tab_id=&#8221;1603133091163-b73fa2fd-65b6&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]During 1993, Rembrandt co-founded South Africa\u2019s first cellular telephony company, Vodacom, which was eventually disposed of in 2006 by VenFin Limited (VenFin). In 1995, Rembrandt and Richemont consolidated their respective tobacco interests in Rothmans International, at the time the world\u2019s fourth largest cigarette manufacturer, which was then delisted, and then in 1999 merged these interests with those of British American Tobacco plc (BAT), the world\u2019s second largest cigarette producer. Since then the investment in BAT has been held through a joint holding company in which Rembrandt (Remgro\u2019s predecessor) and Richemont held 33\u2153% and 66\u2154% respectively. Following the above restructuring, Rembrandt became a pure investment holding company.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;2000&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1603133266126-ccba2d34-afe6&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In September 2000, the restructuring of Rembrandt was advanced when the South African holding structure, consisting of four listed companies, was collapsed into two listed companies, namely Remgro and VenFin. Following this, Remgro represented Rembrandt\u2019s established tobacco, financial services, mining and industrial interests. The telecommunication and technology interests were housed in VenFin.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;2001&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1666166016273-0b614dcf-3f36&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In January 2001, Remgro exchanged its 8.2% interest in Billiton plc and its 11.3% interest in Gold Fields Limited for a 9.3% interest in FirstRand Limited and a 23.1% interest in Rand Merchant Bank Holdings Limited.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;2008&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1603133375848-1d449a1f-2647&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In November 2008, Remgro unbundled its investment in BAT by way of an interim dividend in specie amounting to R55.2 billion. Following the BAT unbundling, the Group\u2019s remaining interests consisted mainly of investments in banking and financial services, printing and packaging, motor components, glass products, medical services, mining, petroleum products, food, wine and spirits and various other trade mark products.<\/p>\n<p>At 30 June 2025, the value of the unbundled BAT shares has increased to R179.6 billion.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;2009&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1603133524431-985ad328-ee2d&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In November 2009 Remgro and VenFin merged again, adding media and technology interests to the Group\u2019s investments.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;2016&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1603133624347-f5379105-8b72&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In June 2015 Remgro facilitated Mediclinic International Limited\u2019s (Mediclinic) acquisition of a 29.9% stake in Spire Healthcare Group plc and participated in a Mediclinic rights issue. Mediclinic and Al Noor Hospitals Group plc combined in February 2016.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;2017&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1603135213100-eb09fb8d-690c&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In October 2016 Remgro completed a rights issue for a total consideration of R9 945 million, to have cash resources and flexibility to capitalise on investment opportunities.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;2018&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1603135384332-5aa27b40-bccb&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In July 2018, Remgro disposed of its 25.75% shareholding in Unilever South Africa Proprietary Limited (Unilever) in exchange for Unilever\u2019s Spreads business in Southern Africa, now Siqalo Foods, for R7 000 million, and a cash consideration of R4 900 million.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;2020&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1603135442382-2709bac0-82b2&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In June 2020, Remgro unbundled its 28.2% investment in RMB Holdings Limited by way of an interim dividend <i>in specie<\/i> amounting to R23.9 billion.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;2023&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1666166280090-07b27b67-9b1d&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In June 2023, Remgro and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA acquired the entire issued ordinary share capital of Mediclinic, other than the Mediclinic shares Remgro already owned. Mediclinic shareholders received 501 pence per Mediclinic share. Remgro invested a further \u00a3221 million and increased its interest in Mediclinic from 44.6% to 50.0%.<\/p>\n<p>In April 2023, the Heineken International B.V. Southern African business, including an interest in Namibia Breweries Limited, combined with the bulk of the Distell Group Holdings Limited (Distell) business (consisting of its cider, other RTDs and spirits and wine business) in Heineken Beverages Holdings Limited (Heineken Beverages). Remgro received a 15.5% interest in Heineken Beverages and has subsequently increased its investment to 18.8%. Distell simultaneously unbundled its subsidiary, Capevin Holdings Proprietary Limited (Capevin), which held Distell\u2019s remaining assets, including its Scotch whisky business, and Remgro received an economic interest of 31.4% in Capevin.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;2025&#8243; tab_id=&#8221;1760967931439-20b7b3ef-083a&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]On 1 July 2024 Remgro received 714 057 943 Rainbow shares as part of RCL Foods\u2019 formal separation of its poultry operation.<\/p>\n<p>Remgro\u2019s shareholding in Rainbow mirrored the shareholding that was held in RCL Foods at that time, being an interest of 80.2%.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_accordion][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;] Creating shareholder value since 1948 [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]Click here to enlarge [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;1940s&#8221; tab_id=&#8221;1603130665179-7fdb5ac8-6921&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]Remgro\u2019s founding history goes back to the 1940s when the founder of the Group, Dr Anton Rupert, established the tobacco company Voorbrand, forerunner of Rembrandt Group Limited (Rembrandt), in Johannesburg, South Africa. Rembrandt was incorporated in 1948. Rembrandt entered the&#8230;  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.remgro.com\/about-remgro\/history\/\" class=\"more-link\" title=\"Read Company history\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-62","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Company history - Remgro Limited<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.remgro.com\/about-remgro\/history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"af_ZA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Company history - Remgro Limited\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;] Creating shareholder value since 1948 [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]Click here to enlarge [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=&#8221;1940s&#8221; tab_id=&#8221;1603130665179-7fdb5ac8-6921&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]Remgro\u2019s founding history goes back to the 1940s when the founder of the Group, Dr Anton Rupert, established the tobacco company Voorbrand, forerunner of Rembrandt Group Limited (Rembrandt), in Johannesburg, South Africa. Rembrandt was incorporated in 1948. Rembrandt entered the... 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