Johann Rupert’s ‘stepchild’ now has assets worth R128 billion

Investment giant Reinet has informed shareholders that its investment fund’s net asset value (NAV) reached €6.60 billion (R127.8 billion) at the end of March 2026.

This marks a €13 million (R251.75 million) increase from the end of December 2025, reflecting Reinet Fund’s investments and cash resources, together with other assets and liabilities.

This amounts to a NAV per share of around €38.55 (R746.67), based on Reinet Fund’s 171.3 million shares in issue.

All of these shares are owned by Reinet, along with 1,000 management shares that are held by Reinet Fund Manager.

Reinet is a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle that forms part of billionaire businessman Johann Rupert’s family empire, along with Swiss-based luxury goods giant Richemont and South African investment holding company Remgro.

Johann’s ties to these companies date back decades, starting with his father, Anton Rupert, who turned a small tobacco company into an industrial conglomerate.

Anton founded Voorbrand, a tiny South African tobacco company, in the 1940s. This company later became Rembrandt, which dominated the local tobacco market under Anton’s leadership.

Over time, Rembrandt diversified into other sectors, including mining, financial services, engineering, and food.

Johann joined his father’s company in the 1980s and soon spun off Rembrandt’s international assets, creating Compagnie Financière Richemont.

Later on, Rembrandt would restructure into two publicly traded companies: Remgro, which managed its traditional assets, and VenFin, which handled its technology investments.

In 2009, Remgro and VenFin merged back into Remgro, of which Johann remains chairman.

A year before, Johann also oversaw the creation of Reinet Investments, a company focused on the non-luxury assets spun off from Richemont.

Reinet has been described as an investment powerhouse but is often overlooked among the Ruperts’ various other business interests.

Today, Johann remains on the board of all three companies, serving as their chairman.

Over the past year, Reinet has sealed several deals that have completely transformed the company.

The Luxembourg-based investment vehicle sold its stakes in both British American Tobacco (BAT) and the UK-based Pension Insurance Corporation Group (PICG).

This marked the end of an era for the company, ending its long history with BAT that dates back to Rupert’s time at Rembrandt.

Richemont’s former interest in BAT was Reinet’s principal asset and accounted for around 24% of its net asset value in 2024.

Between September 2024 and January 2025, Reinet made the surprising decision to sell its stake in the tobacco giant, marking the end of the companies’ long history together.

Also in 2025, Reinet announced that it plans to sell its stake in PICG for some €2.9 billion (R56.17 billion).

This sale also marked the end of a decade-long relationship between Reinet and PICG, a specialist insurance company based in the United Kingdom that Reinet first invested in in 2012.

Around March 2025, PICG was Reinet’s most valuable holding at around R77.62 billion, comprising 53.7% of the company’s net asset value.