Meet The South African Team That Has Bought One Of Kenya’s Most Lucrative Media Company
Earlier today, My earlier story about Radio Africa -the parent company that owns Classic 105, Kiss 100, Radio Jambo, East FM and The Star was sold. Rather, the majority stake was sold seeing as one company now holds l49% and smaller business interests and individuals own 51% which essentially dilutes it’s strength.
Well, allow me to introduce you to the guys who bought Radio Africa from Patrick Quarcoo and William Pike (with the rest of the company getting honorable mention):
Partick Quarcoo
Kuseni
K DLAMINI(45)
BA (Hon (Cum laude) (Natal) MPhil (Oxford)
Independent non-executive chairman
Appointed October 2012
Kuseni Dlamini is the former CEO of Old Mutual South Africa and Emerging Markets prior to which he was the head of Anglo American South Africa as well as a member of the Anglo American plc. executive committee. He was Executive Chairman of Richards Bay Coal Terminal between 2005 and 2008. Kuseni previously worked for De Beers in South Africa and at its London office and for AngloGold Ashanti’s corporate office in Johannesburg. After graduating cum laude with a BA (Honours) degree from Natal University in Durban, he went to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, where he read for his MPhil degree. In March 2008 Kuseni was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF). In 2010 the WEF appointed him to be a member of the Global Agenda Council on economic growth and poverty alleviation. Kuseni is the independent non-executive director of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited
William
W MARSHALL-SMITH (35)
BCom (Cape Town), PGDA, CA(SA)
Financial director
Appointed January 2013
William Marshall-Smith qualified as a chartered accountant at Deloitte and has worked in their financial services division in New York, Cape Town and the Isle of Man. William has over ten years’ experience in corporate finance and public and private investing in South Africa. Prior to joining Blackstar in 2005, William was a partner in a boutique corporate finance and principle investing company with particular focus on public investing and BEE advisory. William is a director of Litha Healthcare Group Limited and several other unlisted companies.
Andrew
A D BONAMOUR (42)
BCom
Chief Executive Officer
Appointed January 2013
Andrew is the founder of Blackstar Group SE and is the executive chairman of Blackstar Group (Pty) Limited. Andrew previously worked at Brait S.A Limited where he held positions in investment banking, principal investment divisions and corporate finance. He serves on the boards of several listed and unlisted companies including Litha Healthcare Group Limited.
Harish
H MEHTA (63)
Diploma in Printing Technology (Leeds), BSc Industrial Engineering (University of Wisconsin), MBA (University of Wisconsin)
Independent non-executive director
Appointed October 2012
Harish has been instrumental in the expansion of Uniprint which was founded well over 80 years ago to over 60 times its original size. Uniprint was recently acquired by Avusa. Harish is non-executive director of Spar and Redefine Income Fund, he is also Chairman of Clearwater Capital, and trustee of Nedbank Eyethu Fund. He is currently joint chairman of UHC Communications.
Mikki
M XAYIYA (52)
BA (Unisa), Cert of Defence Management (Wits), Emerging Market Leadership Programme (University of Pennsylvania)
Independent non-executive director
Appointed October 2012
Mikki served in various capacities in the African National Congress since 1977. In 1995, he was appointed as a policy advisor to the Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government. He left public office and joined Mawenzi Asset Managers as Managing Director. In 1998, he co-founded Mvelaphanda Holdings and is currently the executive chairman of Mvelaphanda Group and Mvelaphanda Holdings.
Hans
H J W Hawinkels (62)
BSc Electrical Engineering, BCom, MBA
Independent non-executive director
Appointed October 2012
Hans is currently advising Sapinda – a German boutique investment bank- on its global investments. Hans was previously the advisor to a Saudi Arabian Jeddah based family in private equity investments – mainly Oil & Gas/Petrochemicals. Prior to that Hans was CEO of MultiChoice Africa – Naspers subsidiary – where he launched DStv across South Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa and also spent 5 years based in Hong Kong as CEO of MIH – also a Naspers Subsidiary- where he concluded numerous Pay TV and Internet deals – notably Tencent. He was recently appointed to the TMG Board of Directors
Ravi
R NAIDOO (49)
B.Sc (Hons), MBA
Independent non-executive director
Appointed October 2012
Ravi is founder and managing director of Interactive Africa, a media, marketing and project management company established in 1994. Prior to that, he spent three years as an account director at Young and Rubicam where he managed a number of multinational accounts. Ravi project managed the first African in space mission, as well as South Africa’s bid campaign for the football World Cup and the African Connection Rally. Amongst other accomplishments, he is well known for establishing the International Design Indaba, which has become recognised as one of the world’s leading design institutions. Ravi also sits on the jury of the Index Awards in Copenhagen, the world’s richest design prize.
Manana
M M NHLANHLA
BSc, Masters in Library and Information Science
Independent non-executive director
Appointed June 2013
Manana Nhlanhla has lectured in Information Science for ten years and later joined Thebe Investments (Pty) Limited to launch their book publishing business. She served as a non-executive director on various Thebe Investments (Pty) Limited subsidiaries. Manana has played a significant role in some of the major BEE deals such as Batho Bonke, Foskor and Rainbow Chicken Limited. Manana is currently an executive director of Mion Holdings (Pty) Ltd and a non-executive of Rainbow Chicken Limited and other unlisted companies.
And the man that actually owns the company:
Picture: BUSINESS DAY
Sources:
BDLive
Times Media
