Pepkor Holdings Ltd, a South African retailer announced Monday that Chief Executive Leon Lourens will resign from the board on Sept. 30 as he intends to retire by March 31, 2023, and added that he will be succeeded by Nonexecutive Director Pieter Erasmus.
Erasmus served as Pepkor’s CEO from 2001 to 2017.
Erasmus, who is in his mid-fifties, was appointed as a non-executive director in January this year after resigning from the board in 2019. According to Pepkor’s website, he is currently a director of investment holding company Vista Group.
Lourens will remain with the company until the end of March next year. Lourens has been with Pepkor for 32 years, and served as CEO for almost five years.
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Pepkor said that Lourens helped the company through the repercussions of the Steinhoff crisis, the pandemic, the 2021 civil unrest and the 2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods.
“Under his stewardship, the group successfully navigated these challenges and continued to deliver commendable results. Leon was also instrumental in the conclusion of Pepkor’s acquisition of the Brazilian-based retailer, Grupo Avenida.”
Source: News24
