Pepkor

Pepkor

Industry	Clothing, Retail, Accessories
Founded	1965
Headquarters	Parow, Cape Town, South Africa
Number of locations	3, 300 stores (2013)
Area served	Southern Africa, Australia, Poland, Slovakia, New Zealand
Key people	P J Erasmus (MD) J H du Toit (FD)
Revenue	R20 billion (2012)
Number of employees	23,000 (2010)
Subsidiaries	PEP stores, Ackermans, Best & Less, Pep&Co, Dunns, Shoe City, Pepco Poland, John Craig, Harris Scarfe, Pepco Slovakia
Website	http://www.pepkor.co.za

Pepkor is a South African based investment and holding company with business interests in Africa, Australia, United Kingdom, Poland, Slovakia, and New Zealand. Managing a portfolio of retail chains focused on the value market and selling predominantly clothing, footwear and textiles. Its main operating subsidiaries are Pep and Ackermans in South Africa and Best & Less in Australia, all based on a high volume/lower margin business model. Formally known as PEP stores the company changed its name to Pepkor Limited in 1982 and PEP stores became a subsidiary company. In 2011 Pepkor's chairman Christo Wiese was ranked as the 782nd richest person in the world on Forbes’s list of the world’s 1210 billionaires with an estimated net worth of US$1,6bn. In 2011 private equity company Brait bought a 24,6% stake in Pepkor for R4,18bn, valuing the company at about R17bn. Pepkor aims to expand its presence in the rest of Africa by opening 50 stores in Nigeria.

PEP retail stores focus on selling clothing, footwear, textiles, home ware and cellular products to the lower end of the market that aims to sell items at the lowest possible price in large volumes in both rural and urban areas. They are Pepkor's largest and first subsidiary with over 1,500 stores in countries across southern Africa.

Ackermans focuses on selling clothing, footwear and household textiles to the middle market from 374 stores across South Africa. Ackermans subsidiary Jay Jays, based upon the Australian brand of the same name also focuses on selling the same type of products in the middle market segment in high volumes and at low prices in the South African market from its 62 stores. Jay Jays in South Africa is a joint venture between Pepkor and Jay Jay's Australian parent company, Just Group.

Pepkor acquired the Australian retail chain in 1998 at the start of a strong period of growth for subsidiary over a seven-year period during which it doubled in size. Currently the chain has 191 stores across Australia adhering to Pepkor's business model of selling textiles in high volumes and low prices.