Greg Els
Executive Director & CEO
Greg is the CEO of the Praxley Group, an Executive Director of Praxley and a Non-Executive Director of all but one of Praxley Group companies. Greg is the Principal Founder and controlling Shareholder of the Praxley Group and Executive Chairman of Praxley.
Greg has more than thirty-four (34) years of investment banking experience and has transacted extensively, both locally and internationally.
Greg holds a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) from Rhodes University as well as a CAIB from the Institute of Bankers where he received two national achievement awards.
With 27 years of experience in Corporate and Investment Banking, Greg has held senior positions at FirstRand and Standard Corporate & Merchant Bank. Prior to founding Praxley in 2003, Greg was the Country Coverage Head of ABN AMRO in South Africa, where he was a main board member of the Bank.
Greg embarked on a career in banking in 1991, in the FirstRand Group. In 1993, Greg was the youngest Corporate Manager to ever be appointed to a Corporate Branch. In 1994, Greg joined Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank, where he held various senior positions until 1998. He was instrumental in concluding the successful listing of Steinhoff International and was later appointed as the Group Treasurer of Steinhoff International. In late 1999, Greg returned to the banking industry as Vice President of ABN AMRO. He was later promoted to Country Coverage Head (one of only 48 Global Executives responsible for the banks wholesale banking activities). In this position, he was a Director on the Board of the Bank and a voting member of the ALCO.
Greg has led a number of large corporate restructurings as a Banker. In 1994, he led a consortium of banks in the restructuring of Basil Read which culminated in the investments by French construction giant Bouygues. In 1991, he chaired a consortium of eleven banks exposed to Hyundai SA and personally negotiated a sale of Hyundai SA to Imperial in 2000. In 2001, Greg led a team of local and international professionals in successfully recouping in the region of USD35 million from the Hyundai Liquidation.
In early 2003, Greg successfully convinced Ms Monhla Hlahla and Mr Ranjit Murugason (the 'Founding Shareholders') to join him in establishing Praxley as a boutique Corporate Finance Advisory and Private Equity Business.
Over the past twelve years, Greg has been instrumental in successfully originating and closing in excess of 300 corporate finance transactions for Praxley and raising funding in excess of R5 billion.
Greg remains a significant shareholder in Praxley and is tasked with Executive Management responsibilities across the Praxley Group.
Greg is a director of the following companies within the Praxley Group, via which numerous Private Equity investments have been made:
- Praxley Corporate Solutions (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Consortium (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Consortium 5 (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Consortium 8 (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Consortium 9 (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Consortium 14 (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Media (Pty) Ltd
- Nuvo Holdings (Pty) Ltd
- Mdokwa Investments (Pty) Ltd
- Mamu-Realeka Investments (Pty) Ltd
- Gremon Investments (Pty) Ltd
- Siyalusana Investment Films (Pty) Ltd
- Galaxy Finance (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Holdings (Pty) Ltd
- GA Investments (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Corporate Finance (Pty) Ltd
- Main Street 1365 (Pty) Ltd
- Red Coral Investments (Pty) Ltd
- Capivest Wealth and Investments (Pty) Ltd
Albert Nemukula
Minority Shareholder
Albert is a minority shareholder of Praxley, a director of a number of companies within the Praxley Group and shareholder in a number of companies across the entire Praxley Group. Albert is a non-executive director at JSE Listed company Caxton and CTP Publishers and Printers Ltd and shareholder and director of a well-known Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment investment holding company in the form of Vuwa Investments (Pty) Ltd.
Albert is a well-respected businessman with interests in Media, Publishing, Construction, Healthcare, Aviation and Retail, to name just a few.
Mr. Albert Nemukula is an entrepreneur with a proven track record within the media, publishing and retail sectors of South Africa.
Having founded one of the largest black owned publishing houses in South Africa in 1989, Vivlia Publishers and Booksellers (Pty) Ltd, Albert has become an influential player within the publishing industry taking up a non-executive director role at the JSE listed, Caxton and CTP Publishers and Printers Ltd.
In addition to Albert’s interest in print, media and publishing, he has successfully ventured into the retail sector founding and/or taking up the position of chairman at the following entities:
- Airport Retail Concession (Pty) Limited which owns CNA franchises in OR Tambo and Cape Town International Airports
- Ntinga Gold, Diamond and Platinum Jewelry Retail (Pty) Limited – which has outlets in OR Tambo International Airport and V&A Waterfront (Cape Town);
- First League Trading CC – which owns the Tie Shop and Cosmic Candy Shop;
- Nxekula General Trading CC – which has a retail outlet in Cape Town International Airport;
- Masiphuze Trading (Pty) Limited – which owns the Wimpy, Steers and Brazillia franchises in King Shaka International Airport, Port Elizabeth Airport, Cape Town International Airport and East London Airport.
Through his position as director and shareholder at Vuwa Investments (Pty) Ltd, a leading black owned investment holding company in South Africa, Albert has expanded his influence through all sectors of industry capitalising on synergies between himself and the companies he is positioned allowing for exceptional growth.
Albert’s business acumen and capital has played a material role in establishing and growing the Praxley Group and he is either a director or indirect shareholder in all thirty companies comprising the Praxley Group which have been acquired by some of the following Praxley Group Companies:
- CGN Transportation (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Consortium 9 (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Consortium 11 (Pty) Ltd
- Praxley Consortium 14 (Pty) Ltd
Albert is closely associated with one of Praxley’s Founding Shareholders in the form of Ms Monhla Hlahla and represents Ms Monhla Hlahla's interests in a number of companies comprising the Praxley Group.