After spending 48 years transforming Dis-Chem, a single neighbourhood pharmacy into one of southern Africa's largest healthcare retailers, South African businessman Ivan Saltzman is set to complete the final handover of the empire he built.
Saltzman, who co-founded Dis-Chem with his wife, Lynette, in 1978, is set to retire as chairman of the Johannesburg-listed healthcare retailer on June 30, completing a carefully managed leadership transition that began nearly two years ago when he stepped down as chief executive.
His departure will mark the final phase of a succession plan that has also reshaped the founding family's leadership and ownership structure. Bloomberg reports that the transition will test not only Dis-Chem's succession strategy but also the Saltzman family's ability to successfully transfer both management and wealth to the next generation.
What began with money borrowed from Saltzman's mother to purchase the pharmacy he managed has grown into a healthcare retail group valued at about $1.7 billion.
Today, Dis-Chem operates hundreds of stores across South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, offering prescription medicines, health and beauty products, wellness services, in-store clinics and medical insurance.
