Remgro, which was founded by South Africa’s richest family, the Ruperts, has sold close to R4.9 billion worth of shares in the banking group, FirstRand.
Remgro’s history dates back to the founding of the Rembrandt Group by Anton Rupert. Anton’s son, Johann, is now the company’s chair and South Africa’s richest man.
In 1988, Rembrandt saw a major split when its international assets were spun off into Richemont. The South African assets were kept in Remgro.
The Rupert family holds all the unlisted B shares in the company, which gives them over 40% control of the company.
Remgro acquired a direct stake in FirstRand following the unbundling of its interest in RMB Holdings in June 2020.
Remgro had a direct exposure to FirstRand of 3.92%, which was deemed non-core. FirstRand is the owner of FNB, RMB and WesBank, and has a market cap of R500 billion.
By the end of the previous financial year, Remgro had sold down this residual interest in FirstRand to a holding of 1.64%.
In the continuation of the aforementioned disposal process, Remgro had disposed of 51,966,739
additional FirstRand shares in the market over the period 2 February 2026 to 10 March 2026.
At an average price per share of R93.87, Remgro sales in 2026 totalled R4,878 million.
“The proceeds from the disposal add to Remgro’s strategic cash resources, which are managed in accordance with its capital allocation framework,” said Remgro.
Remgro’s other holdings include Mediclinic, OUTsurance, Seacom, the Blue Bulls, Heineken, Rainbow Chicken and many more.
