Right royal turnaround at Imperial
The logistics and automotive company has undergone a radical restructure — and more changes look likely
High hopes were pinned on Mark Lamberti when he took on the role of CEO at a faltering Imperial Holdings roughly three years ago. He has lived up to expectations and then some. Lamberti has not only transformed Imperial’s very tired business model; he has also positioned it for potential division into two substantial, separately listed businesses. What Lamberti found in Imperial was an old-style conglomerate. "[Its] approach had been to buy anything that made a profit," he says. "In its old form Imperial was no longer a sustainable business." It was showing. "In 2014 Imperial’s market cap was the same as it had been 10 years earlier," says Lamberti. Wielding a big axe, he waded into the automotive and logistics group. By the end of Imperial’s latest year to June, 42 noncore businesses and 52 properties had been sold. Imperial has also been active on the acquisition front, bringing on board 15 new businesses at a total cost of R5.4bn since the first half of the group’s year to June 2...
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