such people in Zimbabwe would regularly view my total remuneration to establish whether or not I was having a good year. I had to contend with such questions as: “What’s it like being worth X million rand?” In 2000, things started to go pear-shaped. We had a squabble with NAIL our controlling shareholder which precipitated a decision by NAIL to unbundle their shares. From having one strong solid shareholder with good BEE credentials, we suddenly had a shareholder base of about 20,000. Then there was a banking crisis when a number of banks went under. Consequently, our banking licence was not making us money and we eventually handed it back to the Reserve Bank in 2001. This was followed by staff cuts as we adopted a model that was limited to corporate finance, private equity and hedge funds. We also opened an operation in Ireland which we retain to date with a country manager and a few staff. A change in the leadership in 2002 saw the founding CEO Rob Dow step down for the current CEO, Andrew Sprague. There was poor market sentiment in our share price going below the original listing price. At one point in time, our net asset value was higher than our share price which triggered discussions on the merits of delisting from the JSE. In 2003 Allan Gray controlled a 30% stake in the company (on behalf of its clients) and rumours began to float that a hostile takeover was imminent. We called on an old friend at Investec South Africa and our discussions resulted in Investec financing a management buy-out
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EXPATRIATE
(MBO) of the business. The MBO ultimately worked out well for all parties and by the end of 2009 we had repaid Investec’s funding. Now some may look at this story and view it as “The Rise and Fall of AMB”. I think of it as “The Evolution of AMB”. Whereas being a listed entity gives you visibility and enables the use of your shares as currency and to reward staff members, I do not see the point of remaining listed just for the sake of it. When we were listed management owned about 15% of the company. Now, we are six partners who control 100% of the business. It is a lean structure that works and we are able to harness its full potential. Decision making is quick and easy and we have full control of a solid balance sheet. On a personal level, I have given a third of my life – a whole 16 years - to this company. I am the longest serving executive and it feels like I have worked for about five different companies given all the changes the company has been through from an exciting start up, to a registered bank, then a listed company and its current form as a privately owned investment banking business following the successful MBO. There have been a couple of lessons learnt along the way; firstly it is important to go into business with the right partners who will add value; secondly, you need to be cautious when you are growing too quickly; and thirdly, partnerships don’t necessarily last forever. When you come together, your interests are aligned but at some point this can change and you may outgrow each other.
I cannot therefore say that I will be at the company “until death do us part”. I consider myself a Zimbabwean who has settled in South Africa and so I will be really happy to close some lucrative deals in my country of origin for AMB. I think the dollarisation of the economy has improved the situation there even though I do not think that coalition governments are the answer to governance in Africa. I would prefer a ruling party that wins a free and fair internationally monitored election. That said, the signs in Zimbabwe are good and I would be very pleased to see the establishment of an AMB Zimbabwe.
EXPAT-TITBITS : Age 45. Has a passion for music (R&B and jazz). Married to Patience Lusengo. Has 2 Daughters, Farai and Alinaswe and a Son,Charles. “Looking forward to charging lobola!”