Johan du Preez
CEO | SAAD Investment Holdings
Johan du Preez spent his first 15 years in business primarily as a CEO responsible for the turnaround of various non-performing businesses. These include: Sanlam Health, a health insurance company (CEO, 1999–2001); Innofin, a retail investment platform - subsequently rebranded Glacier by Sanlam (CEO 2002–2004); and Quince Capital (start-up), a holding company investing in companies offering niche financing solutions (CEO, 2006–2009).
He acted as the CEO of the then JSE-listed pharmaceutical company Cipla Medpro South Africa (August 2012–June 2013) and during this time concluded a $450 million transaction with Cipla India that saw the delisting of Cipla Medpro.
Johan founded the private equity firm SAAD Investment Holdings (www.saad.co.za) in 2006. In 2007 he began the Tree of Life Foundation (www.tol.org.za), a Christian not-for-profit, that now owns SAAD 100%. He devotes his time to furthering these organizations. He also serves on various boards and is often consulted by CEOs of medium-sized companies.
He is happily married to Leentjie, founder of Grace Photography (www.gracephotography.co.za). They have three children – Benjamin (24), Nina (23), and Petrus (19) – and reside in Cape Town.
When God provides a larger-than-life vision, however, it is not for us to question it or to demand to see it all unfold in our lifetime.