WeBuyCars co-founders sell over R860 million worth of shares 

WeBuyCars co-founders and co-CEOs Faan and Dirk van der Walt have sold R866.4 million worth of shares in the company as part of their personal investment diversification and estate planning. 

The sale was announced late on Monday, 2 February, and is the first such action the brothers have taken since the company listed on the JSE on 11 April 2024. 

The two brothers have turned WeBuyCars into a R20 billion used car giant after founding the company while repairing their family’s old, dilapidated cars. 

“As part of their personal investment diversification and estate planning, Mr ASS van der Walt and Mr DJF van der Walt, who are executive directors of the company, have disposed of shares in the Company owned by I VDW Holdings Proprietary Limited,” WeBuyCars said in a statement. 

I VDW Holdings is an associate company jointly indirectly owned by the Van der Walt brothers.

“The proceeds of the disposal will primarily be applied towards family-related obligations and personal investments,” the company said. 

“The disposal formed part of a considered process of portfolio management, rebalancing, and diversification.”

The company mentioned that this process is partly due to WeBuyCars’ share price performance over an extended period, which had resulted in the brothers’ shareholding representing a disproportionately large portion of their personal wealth.

“Following the dealings set out herein, the directors and their associates continue to collectively hold 5.81% of the total issued share capital of the company, which remains a large portion of their respective investment portfolios,” WeBuyCars said. 

The company’s statement said the brothers do not intend to sell any further shares in WeBuyCars in the near future.

“The directors remain fully committed to the company and will continue in their executive roles with an ongoing focus on delivering sustainable growth and long-term value for all shareholders,” the company said.

Prior to the dealings disclosed below, the brothers had not disposed of any shares in the company, held directly or indirectly by them, since the listing in April 2024.

WeBuyCars was founded in 2001, with Faan and Dirk doing everything themselves until 2012, when they appointed their first buyers to help them cope with the increased demand for their services. 

The company has only continued to grow since then, with it now having 18 vehicle supermarkets and over 100 buying pods. WeBuyCars trades over 15,000 cars a month in South Africa. 

More recently, the company has come under pressure from the surge in popularity of Chinese vehicles in South Africa. 

These ‘cheap’ new Chinese vehicles are offered at attractive price points, leading some of WeBuyCars’ typical buyers to opt for new cars rather than shop around for used alternatives. 

However, while this is negatively impacting WeBuyCars’ performance now, the company expects this headwind to turn into a tailwind in the future. 

As these new Chinese vehicles, alongside others, are added to the used-car market, it will expand WeBuyCars’ offering and enable it to compete head-on with new vehicles.

The table below shows Faan and Dirk’s recent transactions, as detailed in WeBuyCars’ announcement on SENS.