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Who Is The South African Billionaire Investor Behind Nando’s?

Who Is The South African Billionaire Investor Behind Nando’s?

From TheSouthAfrican. Story by Mareike Pietzsch.

Dick Enthoven is one of South Africa’s richest business men — but also one of the country’s most elusive.

A quick Google image search of Dick turns into a frantic 10-minute quest.

Few people know that this billionaire is not only the owner of Spier Wine Farm and Hollard Insurance Company Ltd., but also of the South African Nando’s restaurant chain whose famous peri-peri chicken took the world by storm.

Dick got to know Nando’s founders Robbie Brozin and Nando Duarte in the ’80s, and gave them a loan to expand their Nando’s chain in South Africa initially, and then internationally.

Nando’s is described as a “private family business” and the main backers and investors are the Enthoven family, providing capital and business acumen to help Nando’s grow.

Son Robby Enthoven heads the U.K. Nando’s operation. Robby was tapped to run Nando’s in 1993 when the company had just two branches in west London. There are now at least 250 Nando’s locations in the U.K.

Robby changed the focus for the U.K brand to offering a sit-down as well as take-away service. The take-away service is the local South African model.  Wines from Spier feature on the Nando’s wine list in the U.K.

Dick’s other son Adrian Enthoven was educated at Oxford and is now Chairman of Hollard.

And Dick’s daughter Mariota is married to “Farmer Angus” McIntosh who runs the Spier Biodynamic Farm. They supply organic meat to leading Cape Town and Winelands restaurants.

Nando’s has become one of South Africa’s biggest export success stories with more than 1,100 restaurants in 22 countries.

Read more at TheSouthAfrican.