DURBAN - RMB Holdings (RMH) has said that its chief executive, Herman Bosman, would step down from the various boards of FirstRand at the end of June after the completion of the unbundling of its 34percent stake in the financial services group.
RMB said Bosman would step down from all his responsibilities as the bank looked to sell its shareholding to FirstRand shareholders.
RMB, an investment holding company, first announced the unbundling in November and said the move would unlock about R5.41billion in value for its shareholders.
RMH is the founding and largest shareholder in FirstRand.
RMH shareholders gave the restructuring a thumbs-up on Monday, with a 100percent majority vote, ending a 27-year-old relationship between the two financial institutions.
Vestact portfolio manager Michael Treherne said RMB decided to reduce its exposure to FirstRand to reduce the discount to its underlying assets.
“At the time when management decided to unbundle FirstRand, the discount to net asset value was more than 10percent,” Treherne said. “If shareholders get given the FirstRand shares directly, that discount is reduced to zero.”
Treherne likened the unbundling to PSG shareholders to buy Capitec shares. “The goal is to unlock value for shareholders,” he said.
The unbundling of FirstRand stake, which owns a portfolio of financial services franchises such as First National Bank (FNB), RMB, Wesbank, Aldemore and Ashburton Investments, will leave RMH with its property portfolio.
RMH Property has a 27.5percent stake in Atterbury and a 37.5percent stake in Atterbury Europe in its core property portfolio.
RMH also has stakes in Diversity and Integer Properties.
In the six months to the end of December, FirstRand reported a 5percent increase in normalised earnings to R14bn, boosted by its largest earnings contributor, FNB, which was up by 5percent to R9.2bn, while RMH reported a 3percent increase in normalised earnings to R4.59bn for the six months to the end of December.
RMB rose 3.6percent on the JSE yesterday to close at R55.25.