New Director - Louis du Preez

Gemfields

25/06/2025 14:01

RNS Number : 8573O

Gemfields Group Limited

30 June 2025

 

The following amendment has been made to the New Director - Louis du Preez announcement released on 25 June 2025 at 14:01 under RNS Number 4140O. The correction relates to the number of shares held by Mr du Preez at the point of his appointment. All other details remain unchanged. The full amended text is shown below.

 

Incorporated in Guernsey. Guernsey registration number: 47656

South African external company registration number: 2009/012636/10

Share code on JSE:GML (General Segment of JSE Main Board) / AIM:GEM

ISIN: GG00BG0KTL52   |   LEI: 21380017GAVXTCYS5R31

("Gemfields" or the "Group" or the "Company")

 

Corrected Announcement - New Director - Louis du Preez

LONDON, 30 JUNE 2025

Gemfields is pleased to announce the appointment of Louis du Preez to Gemfields' Board as Non-Executive Director from today. Louis is a representative of Rational Expectations (Pty) Ltd, per the disclosures in the Company's recent Prospectus published on 20 May 2025. Louis du Preez's appointment follows regulatory due diligence and the approval of shareholders at the Company's Annual General Meeting held earlier this morning.

Louis du Preez background

Louis du Preez qualified as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa in 1997 after completing his articles. An accomplished legal and corporate executive, he has extensive experience in corporate governance, commercial strategy and cross-border transactions. Mr du Preez became a partner at Jan S de Villiers in 1998. Following the firm's merger with Werksmans Attorneys in 2009, he served on the national executive committee, playing a pivotal role in shaping the firm's strategic direction until 2017.

Mr du Preez has held multiple board positions across a number of organisations. Mr du Preez was appointed as a non-executive director at KAP Industrial Holdings Limited in 2017 (and resigned in 2019) and as director at Pepkor Holdings Limited in 2018 (a directorship he still holds). In 2017, Mr du Preez joined Steinhoff International (now Ibex Holdings) as General Counsel, progressing to Commercial Director in December 2017 before being appointed Group CEO effective 1 January 2019. He currently still fulfils the role of Group CEO of Ibex Holdings. With a deep understanding of corporate restructuring, financial oversight and strategic decision-making, Mr du Preez continues to contribute his expertise at all levels of business leadership. Mr du Preez is a South African citizen.

Louis du Preez current and previous (held within past five years) Board appointments

Company Name
Current/Former
Ainsley Holdings (Pty) Ltd
Current
Apac Holdco Limited
Current
Budvest (Pty) Ltd
Current
Coral Lagoon Investments 183 (Pty) Ltd
Current
Conforama Holding SA
Current
FF HoldCo (Pty) Ltd
Current
Greenlit Brands Pty Ltd
Current
Ibex Investment Holdings Limited
Current
Ibex UK Holdco Limited
Current
Ibex RSA Holdco Limited
Current
Ibex Retail Investments Limited (formerly known as Steenbok Newco 6A Limited)
Current
Ibex Retail Investments Limited
Current
Ibex Retail Investments Limited (Europe)
Current
Ibex Topco B.V.
Current
K2022679730 (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd
Current
Mons Bella Private Partner Investments (Pty) Ltd
Current
Newshelf 1093 (Pty) Ltd
Current
Pepkor Holdings Limited
Current
SAHPL(Pty) Ltd
Current
SIHPL (Pty) Ltd
Current
Steenbok Lux Finco 1 SARL
Current
Steenbok Lux Finco 2 SARL
Current
Steenbok Newco 1 Ltd
Current
Steenbok Newco 1 Ltd
Current
Steenbok Newco 2A Ltd
Current
Steenbok Newco 2A Ltd
Current
Steenbok Newco 2B Limited
Current
Steenbok Newco 3 Limited
Current
Steenbok Newco 4 Limited
Current
Steenbok Newco 5 Limited
Current
Steenbok Newco 6 Limited
Current
Steenbok Newco 7 Limited
Current
Steenbok Newco 8 Limited
Current
Steenbok Newco 9 Limited
Current
Steinhoff Finance Holding GmbH
Current
Steinhoff International Holdings N.V.
Current
Steinhoff Möbel Holding Alpha GmbH
Current
Steinhoff UK Holdco Limited
Current
Steinhoff UK Holdings Limited
Current
Wiehahn International Holdings (Pty) Ltd
Current
Bud Group Holdings (Pty) Ltd
Former
European Furniture New Holdco Limited
Former
Iep Portfolio 1 (Pty) Ltd
Former

 

Louis du Preez has been involved in the senior management of the Steinhoff Group (now Ibex Group) since December 2017, after the public announcement of the accounting irregularities on 5 December 2017. A number of entities within the Steinhoff Group have undergone a number of restructuring processes in various jurisdictions since then including the Netherlands, United Kingdom and South Africa. These include (i) company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) of Steinhoff Europe AG and Steinhoff Finance Holding GmbH in 2018-2019 in the United Kingdom, (ii) a suspension of payment of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. in 2021 in the Netherlands, (iii) a section 155 scheme of arrangement of SIHPL (Pty) Ltd in South Africa in 2022, and (iv) a Wet Homologatie Onderhands Akkoord (WHOA) process of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. in mid 2023 in the Netherlands which resulted in the formation of the new Ibex Group and the ultimate liquidation on a voluntary basis of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. in the second half of 2023 in the Netherlands.

Blue Group Hold Co Limited, which Louis was a Director from 10 June 2019 until 14 November 2019, entered administration on 30 June 2020 following a period of significant financial distress worsened by trading underperformance and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The administration concluded on 4 July 2022. Despite the successful asset sale and partial recovery for the secured creditor-estimated between 61 percent to 69 percent, Blue Group Hold Co Limited itself had no realisable assets and reported an estimated deficiency of GBP 42.7 million to unsecured creditors. With no dividend expected for unsecured creditors, the company was dissolved on 4 October 2022 following the completion of statutory duties and final reporting.

Louis (aged 56) holds an interest in 74,682 ordinary shares in Gemfields which represents an approximately 0.004% holding of the Company's issued share capital..

There are no further disclosures to be made under Schedule 2 (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

 

-ENDS-

 

 

Further information on Gemfields Group Limited can be found at:

 GEMFIELDSGROUP.COM

 

To join our investor mailing list, please contact us on:
 ir@gemfields.com

 

 

 

ENQUIRIES

 

GEMFIELDS
Sean Gilbertson / David Lovett / Ian Hughes
ir@gemfields.com
 T: +44(0) 20 7518 3400
SPONSOR (JSE)
Investec Bank Limited
NOMINATED ADVISER
 (AIM) & BROKER
Panmure Liberum
 Scott Mathieson / Amrit Mahbubani / John MoreT:+44(0) 20 3100 2222
PRESS ENQUIRES, GEMFIELDS HEAD OFFICE, LONDON
Helena Choudhury / Albertina Namburete
helena.choudhury@gemfields.com/albertina.namburete@gemfields.com
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON GEMFIELDS
Gemfields is a world-leading responsible miner and marketer of coloured gemstones. Gemfields is the operator and 75% owner of both the Kagem emerald mine in Zambia (believed to be the world's single largest producing emerald mine) and the Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique (one of the most significant recently discovered ruby deposits in the world). In addition, Gemfields also holds controlling interests in various other gemstone mining and prospecting licences in Zambia, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Madagascar.
Gemfields' outright ownership of Fabergé - an iconic and prestigious brand of exceptional heritage - enables Gemfields to optimise positioning, perception and consumer awareness of coloured gemstones through Fabergé designs, advancing the wider group's "mine and market" vision.
Gemfields has developed a proprietary grading system and a pioneering auction platform to provide a consistent supply of coloured gemstones to downstream markets, a key component of Gemfields' business model that has played an important role in the growth of the global coloured gemstone sector.

 

 

 

GEMFIELDS

GEMFIELDS.COM | INVESTORS |FOUNDATION

INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | X | YOUTUBE

 

FABERGÉ

FABERGÉ.COM | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK | X | YOUTUBE

 

KAGEM MINING LIMITED LINKEDIN

MONTEPUEZ RUBY MINING LINKEDIN

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