Johann Rupert's stake in Remgro gains $81.7 million

Billionaire Johann Rupert’s investment holding company, Remgro Ltd., has gained $81.7 million on the Johannesburg Stock Market (JSE) amid reports that Heineken N.V. is in talks to acquire Distell Group’s operations in South Africa.

Distell, a leading brewer of wine and spirits in South Africa and across the continent, is partly owned by Remgro, a diversified investment holding with assets in banking, financial services, mining, petroleum, beverage, food and personal care products.

The Rupert-linked company has seen its 30.4-percent stake in the South African brewer surge by more than 11 percent as a result of the news.

This indicates that Remgro’s share price surged from $10.19 per share (R143.06) at close of market on May 17 to $11.36 per share (R159.48) as of press time today.

The increase has led to a market value gain of about $81.7 million (R1.5 billion) for the investment company, driven mainly by the recent gains in the brewer’s shares.

It is worth noting that Distell’s shares gained about 5.03 percent at the close of trading activities on the JSE on May 18. This came amid the announcement of Heineken’s plan to takeover Distell’s South Africa operations.

In the same manner, buying pressure from investors and traders on the floor of the JSE this morning has seen the shares of the brewer surge by about 6 percent. This put the total gains for the company’s shares at about 11 percent since the announcement yesterday.

With the recent gains recorded, Distell’s market capitalization has surged from $2.23 billion (R31.43 billion) to $2.5 billion (R35.03 billion). At the same time, the market worth of Remgro’s roughly 69.85 million shares of Distell has increased from $711.5 million (R10 billion) to $793.2 million (R11.1 billion).