– UK, London – Gemfields Group Limited (LON: GEM / JSE: GML) announced the appointment of Louis du Preez to its Board as Non-Executive Director, effective iimmediatelyiately, as a representative of Rational Expectations (Pty) Ltd.
About Louis du Preez
Louis du Preez qualified as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa in 1997, following the completion of 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 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. Several entities within the Steinhoff Group have undergone a number of restructuring processes in various jurisdictions since the, 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 voluntarily of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. in the second half of 2023 in the Netherlands.
Blue Group Hold Co Limited, for 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.
About 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.
For more: https://www.gemfieldsgroup.com/
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