South Africa’s richest man, billionaire Johann Rupert, has decided to fully divest from British American Tobacco (BAT), ending the family’s generational ties to the tobacco industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of Rupert’s investment groups, Reinet Investments, announced on Tuesday (14 January) that it has agreed to sell over 43.3 million ordinary shares in British American Tobacco at a price of \u00a328.20 per share to institutional investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will raise gross proceeds of some \u00a31.22 billion (~R28.3 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was completed through an aftermarket accelerated bookbuild process, which commenced on 13 January 2025, Reinet said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time of Reinet’s last reporting date of 30 September 2024, the interest in BAT comprised 24% of the net asset value of Reinet, being approximately 48.3 million BAT ordinary shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Separate from the latest sale, during November and December 2024, Reinet sold 5 million BAT ordinary shares through a dribble-out process on the London Stock Exchange, realising gross proceeds of some \u00a3148.5 million (~R3.43 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some 11.1 million BAT ordinary shares previously pledged by Reinet as security for amounts drawn under certain credit facility arrangements have been released following the pre-payment of all the outstanding loan obligations early in January 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These BAT ordinary shares have been included in the latest sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the settlement and completion of the sale, which is expected to take place on 16 January 2025, Reinet and its subsidiaries will have fully exited their position in BAT and will no longer hold any interest in BAT.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Reinet expects to announce the 31 December 2024 net asset value of Reinet Fund on or about 23 January 2025, with Reinet’s management statement for the quarter ended 31 December 2024 expected to follow shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reinet said it intends to use the proceeds from the sale for its ongoing investment activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n End of an era<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The exit from BAT marks the end of an era for the Rupert family and its ties to the tobacco industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Rupert family\u2019s wealth was built on tobacco, with Rupert\u2019s father, Anton Rupert, establishing a tobacco company, Voorbrand Tobacco Company, in the 1940s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Voorbrand was the forerunner of Rembrandt, which entered the South African cigarette and tobacco industry in 1948. The group was listed on the JSE less than a decade after being founded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 1970s, Rembrandt expanded into other industries, like financial services, mining, engineering and food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rembrandt and the Rupert-controlled Richemont consolidated their tobacco interests in Rothmans International in 1995. These tobacco interests were merged with those of British American Tobacco (BAT) a few years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, Richemont\u2019s non-luxury-related activities, which housed its tobacco interests, were spun off into Reinet Investments in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through the family’s businesses in luxury goods, tobacco and various other investments, Johann Rupert sits at the top of South Africa’s rich list with a total net worth of around R213 billion (Forbes, Jan 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is derived from his interests in the family’s main groups, being Richemont (market cap of R1.57 trillion), Remgro (R75.86 billion) and Reinet (R86.2 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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