R31.6 billion in cash for Johann Rupert’s forgotten stepchild
Reinet, part of the Rupert empire, is selling its stake in British American Tobacco for £1.370 billion (R31.6 billion).
Johann Rupert is closely associated with the Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company and the investment holding company Remgro.
Most South Africans are unaware that the Rupert family also controls Reinet, a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle worth around R90 billion.
Although it is sometimes seen as a low-profile stepchild of the Rupert empire, it housed the assets on which the family’s wealth was built.
Johann Rupert’s father, Anton Rupert, established the tobacco company Voorbrand in the 1940s and was the forerunner of Rembrandt.
Rembrandt entered the South African cigarette and tobacco industry in 1948 and was a runaway success.
The company expanded into other industries, such as financial services, mining, engineering, and food.
Johann Rupert spun off Rembrandt’s international assets to form Compagnie Financiere Richemont, which holds brands like Cartier and Montblanc.
In 1995, Rembrandt and Richemont consolidated their tobacco interests in Rothmans International. It later merged these interests with those of British American Tobacco.
In 2008, Richemont’s non-luxury-related activities, which housed its tobacco interests, were spun off into Reinet Investments.
Johann Rupert is Reinet’s executive chairman. It is listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Euronext Amsterdam, and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Reinet’s principal asset is Richemont’s former interest in British American Tobacco, which accounts for 24% of its net asset value.
Reinet’s largest shareholder is the Anton Rupert Trust, controlled by the Rupert family and, in turn, Johann Rupert.
The trust holds 48.8 million ordinary shares in Reinet, representing a 25% ownership interest worth approximately R20 billion.

On Tuesday, 14 January 2025, Reinet announced that it was selling its shares in British American Tobacco (BAT).
On 30 September 2024, Reinet owned 48.3 million BAT ordinary shares, comprising 24% of the net asset value of the company.
During November and December 2024, Reinet sold 5 million BAT ordinary shares through a dribble-out process for £148.5 million.
It will sell the remaining 43.3 million British American Tobacco shares to institutional investors at a price of £ 28.20 each.
Through this transaction, Reinet will raise £1.221 billion (R28 billion), which, combined with the previous £148.5 million, comes to £1.370 billion (R31.6 billion).
After the sale, Reinet will be left with around R2 billion in listed investments and R91 billion in unlisted investments.
Reinet’s unlisted investments are split between its wholly owned interest in Pension Insurance Corporation Group of R68 billion and other private equity funds valued at R24 billion.
Furthermore, Reinet owns other investments valued at R1.2 billion, cash of R7 billion and liabilities of R4.1 billion.
Reinet stated that the proceeds received from the BTI sale would be utilised for future investment opportunities.
With the Ruper family owning 24.93% of Reinet’s total issued share capital, they indirectly made R7.9 billion in cash from this sale.
However, Johann Rupert will not receive the cash unless there is a special dividend. Instead, it will remain in Reinet.
Remgro still owns 0.1% of British American Tobacco, through which it received R86 million in dividends in the 2024 financial year.
However, Reinet’s exit from its large shareholding in British American Tobacco marks the end of an era for the Rupert family.
This shareholding is what was left from the tobacco giant which Anton Rupert founded eighty years ago.
The market welcomed the Rupert family’s exit from the tobacco industry after 80 years, with the Reinet share price jumping on the news.
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