COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

Virgin Active SA appoints new MDVirgin Active South Africa has appointed Jessica’s Spira as its managing director (MD) three months after Real Foods Group founder, Dean Kowarski’s appointment as group CEO.

Spira, a chartered accountant, has more than 22 years’ experience and is the sector head for healthcare and hospitality at Rand Merchant Bank’s healthcare.

The new MD will start her job at South Africa’s largest gym group in October, a role she’s taking over after MD Mark Field was appointed as group chief financial officer in March.

Earlier this year, Virgin Active acquired Real Foods Group, which owns the Kauai and NÜ new restaurant brands, for R581 million.

Kowarski, founder of Real Foods, says demand for community-based exercise has seen an increase, as consumers shift from online fitness during the pandemic.

“Leadership in the gym industry has been dominated by males so the appointment of Jessica will bring a fresh perspective. Jessica was a pioneer at RMB in developing solutions to support the aspirations of women in financial services and will bring this passion to our industry too,” he said.-Fin24

EOH concludes R442 million saleTechnology group EOH has concluded the sale of four information services businesses managed by its subsidiary EOH Mthombo, in a R422-million transaction with Bachique 842.

The companies that have been offloaded are Hoonar Tekwurks Consulting, Managed Integrity Evaluation, Xpert Decision Systems, and Zenaptix. The businesses offer services including data engineering and risk management, background screening and vetting, and software development.

EOH said the proceeds of the transaction have been used to reduce the group’s R1.2 billion bridge facility repayable on 1 April 2023.

“The disposal of information services represents a significant milestone towards the achievement of a more sustainable capital structure that will allow EOH flexibility to execute on its long-term growth strategy,” the company said in a statement.

The company in November 2020 sold off its traffic law enforcement services and systems business for R211 million, while digital platform Sybrin fetched R334 million.-Fin24

Louis Vuitton opens restaurant in FranceLouis Vuitton is set to open its first restaurant in France, just in time for the summer season.

The fashion brand owned by the luxury conglomerate LVMH SE is opening the dining spot, to be called Mory Sacko at Louis Vuitton, in the Riviera town of Saint-Tropez on Friday, June 17.

The 40-seat spot with outdoor dining will be located at the White 1921 hotel and headed by Mory Sacko, the French-West African chef behind the Michelin-starred MoSuke restaurant in Paris.

Sacko’s cuisine is inspired by African and Japanese flavors, reinventing dishes such as the Japanese bento box-style meal kits called ekiben, according to the press release.

“Creative, summery flavours are presented on a custom-made wooden tray designed by the chef and displayed in glass containers embellished with preserved flowers and foliage,” the statement added.-Fin24

Transnet containers moving againAs Transnet progresses repairs of its flood-hit operations, Transnet Freight Rail has reopened a line on the Container Corridor, a key economic node to move freight between Gauteng and Durban.

The single line between Durban and Cato Ridge was reopened on Monday after operations had been suspended since 11 April when devastating floods wreaked havoc in KwaZulu-Natal and damaged the country’s key export and import infrastructure.

Freight between Gauteng and Durban will now resume on the line. Additional capacity will be unlocked on the mainline in September, when repairs on the second line are completed and it is reopened to traffic.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan commended Transnet on significant progress in repair work.

This includes repairs to serious damage on the railway line, which had to be reconstructed between Durban and Cato Ridge; the reconstruction of parts of Bayhead Road where 60m of the road had collapsed; the creation of a new access road to the Port of Durban; and maintenance of the railway line, which was brought forward.-Fin24

VW faces Brazil hearingGerman carmaker Volkswagen faces an audience with Brazilian prosecutors Tuesday over allegations of human-rights violations at a farm it ran during Brazil’s military dictatorship, including slave labour, rapes and beatings.

Prosecutors have assembled a 90-page dossier they say documents years of atrocities committed by Volkswagen managers and hired guns at a cattle ranch the company owned in the Amazon rainforest basin in the 1970s and ‘80s.

In the latest attempt to bring justice for abuses committed under Brazil’s 1964-1985 military regime, the federal prosecutor’s office for labour affairs summoned VW representatives to a hearing in Brasilia to answer for evidence of abuses including torture and killings at the property in the northern state of Para, known as Fazenda Vale do Rio Cristalino

“There were grave and systematic violations of human rights, and Volkswagen is directly responsible,” lead prosecutor Rafael Garcia told AFP.

The audience will be an initial contact “to see if it’s possible to reach a settlement” without opening criminal proceedings, he said.-Fin24