Dis-Chem Pharmacies co-founder Ivan Saltzman will be stepping down as CEO after leading the company for more than four decades.
In a statement on Monday, the retailer said Saltzman, who founded the company with his wife Lynette in 1978, will exit the top position at the end of June, making way for chief financial officer Ruis Morais to take over the reigns from July.
Morais, who has worked for the group for over 10 years, was announced as Saltzman’s successor in August 2021. Dis-Chem said Julia Pope, the group’s executive head of finance, will succeed Morais as chief financial officer.
Saltzman will continue to serve on the board as executive director, and will also remain active as an active member of the executive management team.
“Shareholders are advised that Ivan Saltzman, who co-founded Dis-Chem with his wife Lynette in 1978, has announced that he will step down as CEO at the end of June 2023,” said the retailer in a statement.
“Saltzman will remain an executive director on the board and continue to serve as an active member of the executive management team, with his role including an emphasis on the group’s commitment to accelerate retail space growth, together with a concentrated focus on the trade of the retail store network.”
It said in order “to deliver on the group’s strategic priorities” over the long term, Saltzman has committed to divest 32.25-million Dis-Chem ordinary shares owned by the Saltzman family, representing 3.75% of Dis-Chem’s issued share capital, to Morais and a group of key senior executives, ensuring their ongoing commitment.
“Over the course of the past 45 years, Lynette and I have grown the business from a single store to what it is today, the largest retail pharmacy chain by market share in South Africa with a network of over 300 retail stores and over 20 000 staff,” said Saltzman.
He said he is confident in and supportive of the future leadership of the group, which shares the “same commitment to the brand fundamentals that Lynette and I do”.
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