Johannesburg - Christo Wiese, South Africa’s richest man, sees opportunities to consolidate diamond operations in the region after buying a stake in a Cape Town-based producer of the precious stones.
Wiese, 74, had always been “fascinated” by diamonds and saw good value in Trans Hex Group, he said in Cape Town last week. “There are opportunities for consolidating diamond operations in southern Africa,” he said. “Obviously we will look at growing the business as much as we can.”
Two companies backed by Wiese’s family had bought a 47 percent stake in the gem producer and planned to form a group with 25 percent shareholder RECM & Calibre, Piet Viljoen, a director of RECM, said on August 8. Trans Hex’s market value is R414 million.
It has been a difficult 12 months for diamond producers after prices fell 18 percent last year, the most since the financial crisis of 2008, as Chinese demand slowed and an industrywide credit crunch hit buyers who cut, polish and manufacture the stones. That is creating openings for investors such as Wiese, who are willing to take a punt on luxury gems.
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While Wiese is best known for his retail successes, including clothing chain Pepkor, which was sold to Steinhoff International Holding for $5.7 billion (R77.3bn) in 2014, Trans Hex is not his first foray into diamond mining, tracing back to co-ownership of a South African alluvial Âdiamond mine in the 1970s. He is worth $7.6bn, according to Bloomberg Billionaires index.
Diamonds were “wonderful things, things of beauty and of everlasting value,” Wiese said. Trans Hex rose 5.61 percent to close at R3.95 a share in Johannesburg. The stock has gained 42 percent this year.
BLOOMBERG