Dis-Chem co-founder to step down as CEO after 45 years at the helm

Dis-Chem co-founder Ivan Saltzman will be stepping down as CEO at the end of June 2023, with the current CFO Rui Morais to be his successor.

Saltzman (73), who co-founded Dis-Chem with his wife Lynette in 1978, announced the decision to step down on Monday (15 May). Saltzman will remain an executive director on the Board and continue to serve as an active executive management team member.

“Saltzman’s role as an executive will include an emphasis on the Group’s commitment to accelerate retail space growth, together with a concentrated focus on the trade of the retail store network,” said Dis-Chem in a trading update.

“Over the past 45 years, Lynette and I have grown the business from a single store to what is today the largest retail pharmacy chain by market share in South Africa, with a network of over 300 retail stores and over 20,000 staff,” said Saltzman.

As part of the transition, he will divest roughly R32 million Dis-Chem ordinary shares, 3.75% of Dis-Chem’s issued share capital, owned by his family, to Morais and a group of key senior executives to ensure “their ongoing commitment”.

“Saltzman is one of the extraordinary retailers of his generation, who has transformed retail pharmacy. Under his leadership, Dis-Chem evolved from a family business to a leading listed and proudly South African corporate business,” added Dis-Chem Chairman Larry Nestadt.

The pharmacy group noted that Rui Morais, currently the Group’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and was announced as the successor to Saltzman in August 2021, will assume the role of CEO effective from 1 July 2023.

“Morais joined the Group in 2010 and has been CFO and an executive leadership team member since August 2012. He has been integrally involved in the development of the Group’s strategy over the past 11 years,” said Dis-Chem.

Julia Pope, the current executive head of finance, will succeed Morais as CFO. “The group’s commitment to inclusion, diversity, and transformation ensured that Pope’s six years with Dis-Chem prepared her for this leadership and management role,” it said.

The Group added that Pope, who has 19 years of retail experience and has been working side-by-side with, and under the supervision of Morais since her appointment in 2017, will assume her new role as CFO and an executive director on the Board effective from 1 July 2023.

Saltzman said that despite stepping down, he will continue to identify opportunities to expand the company’s store footprint.

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