Connection Group CEO steps down

By Iain Scott for Connection Group
Johannesburg, 23 Oct 2002

Connection Group CEO Pierre Joubert has stepped down to take up a post at Rand Merchant Bank`s (RMB`s) corporate finance division.

He is being replaced by Toni Fourie, currently CEO of Connection`s retail arm, Incredible Connection.

Joubert, who is to remain as a non-executive director at the board`s request, says with Connection`s turnaround and restructuring now complete, the group was in danger of being top-heavy.

"We are now largely a retail organisation starting a new chapter in Connection`s business, and Toni has been running the retail side for the past three years."

He says he is excited by the new post at RMB. "How many times in life do you have the opportunity to do something different? The markets have always been a hobby for me and I am a CA [chartered accountant] so I have financial training. The opportunity arose and I`m still at the relatively young age to be able to go for it."

Connection chairman Stephen Mulholland says Joubert`s role at the group has been one of a "corporate saviour".

"Pierre took over at a time when the group was on the brink of bankruptcy. He worked day and night to keep it afloat and did a remarkable job."

He describes Joubert`s role as enabling the company to survive while Fourie turned it around.

"We worked together," says Joubert. "It was not something one person could do. You needed both sides."

Fourie, who was previously deputy CEO of MassDiscounters and MD of Dion, says Connection has good potential.

The group announced at the release of its latest year-end results that its medium-term strategy was to build a retail management group to put different technology and electronics retail chains under one banner.

Fourie says with a change to the group`s strategy, a structural change was inevitable.

The Connection Group share was trading at 43c on the JSE late this morning, 1c up on yesterday`s close.