Alex Smith

Experience

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  PricewaterhouseCoopers

  Jul 2002 - Dec 2005

  Associate Director

  Having joined the Transaction Services department fairly close to the beginning of its life, I believe I was an integral part of building the department from the four people it was in November 1997 to a maximum staff compliment of 32. Transaction Services was formed as a specialist department in South Africa in March 1997 to provide transaction related advice outside of the traditional corporate finance focus. The primary service offered by the department is due diligence services, with other related services offered; valuations, reviews of business plans, post-acquisition reviews, preparation of reporting accountants' reports, and the review of circulars/prospectuses. My duties within the department were divided into two elements:Client facing:I was actively involved in the marketing of the department's resources. This primarily consisted of maintaining established relationships with some of our larger recurring clients, as well as the sourcing of new relationships. This was normally as part of a small team.In the course of an engagement, I was the primary contact point for both the client and the target. This typically involves working closely with both in order to facilitate the smooth running of the engagement and ensuring that all pertinent risks are identified and addressed.During an engagement, I would typically have dealings with the following: The board of directors of the client, The senior executives of the target, Any merchant bankers/corporate financiers involved in the transaction, Any lawyers involved in the transaction, and Any tax advisors involved in the transaction.Transactions worked on: Acquisition of ABSA by Barclays Bank plc Acquisition of Peters Papers by Actis led consortium. Acquisition of Idwala by RMB Private Equity led consortium Acquisition of Ozz Limited by consortium led by RMB Corvest Acquisition of Afrox Healthcare by Brimstone led consortium Listing of South African Breweries on the LSE. Show less

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  Altron

  Jan 2006 - Feb 2018

  As the group's financial director and member of the board of directors I was responsible for all financial matters within the Altron group. Prior to April 2015 my roles entailed ensuring integrity of financial reporting function for both internal decision making and external reporting, capital allocation, key investment decisions, and the capital structure. In April 2015 the board implemented a significant restructure with focus on core IT businesses. This led to flattening of structure, an operational corporate office, and independent management structure. My role took on more responsibility including implementing shared services. Operational financial directors reported directly to me. I was instrumental in the divestment process of a number of key operations and managing deleveraging of the group. Achievements:Takeout of Altech minorities and creation of Altron TMT. Involved in pre-transaction strategic planning with McKinseyRaising of R1.8 billion transaction debt and debt refinance of R3.6 billion, including optimal tax structuringHead Office centralisation of funding and bank accounts, improving cash flow visibility and efficiencyInstituting IT Governance Committee, improving governance/promoting intra-group collaborationImplementation of investment committees and methodology across groupKey responsibilities:Member of Altron Board, Altron Risk Management, Altron Executive Committees, invitee to Altron Audit and Altron Remuneration CommitteesMember of Altech, Bytes and Powertech boards, financial review and risk committees, investment and executive committees. Chairman of Altron IT governance committeeResponsible for Corporate Office of 50, providing various shared services, including Treasury, Internal Audit, Tax and LegalMaintaining key relationships with external funders and investorsAdvising sub holding companies' financial directors and larger operating companiesManaging capital structure of the group as well as borrowings profile Show less As Group Financial Manager my primary responsibility was for the production of timely and accurate management accounts on a group, consolidated basis for use by the Altron Executive Committee, as well as the production of the interim report and annual financial statements for the group for publication, in compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards and the requirements of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.Key areas of responsibility included: Management and financial control of the head office operations, with management oversight of various centrally provided services, such as human resources, treasury, internal audit, taxation, finance and information technology Management and control of group reporting requirements, liaising with key finance personnel across the group Director of various group companies Director with oversight responsibility of the group logistics company Management of the group insurance programme Assisting the chief financial officer with mergers and acquisition activity Assisting the chief financial officer with strategic initiatives Assisting the chief executive and chief financial officer in dealings with the investor community Liaising with our primary banking contacts and negotiating funding arrangements at the Altron level Management of the executive payroll and share option schemes Ensuring that the group accounting policies were up to date and in full conformance with IFRS Show less

  • Chief Financial Officer

    Aug 2008 - Feb 2018

  • Group Financial Manager

    Jan 2006 - Jul 2008
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  Net 1 UEPS Technologies

  Mar 2018 - Mar 2022

  Chief Financial Officer

  Responsible for all financial matters within the Lesaka Group and was a member of the board of directors. Up until June 2021 the group had a small executive team and so the role was very operational. There was a strong centralisation of services, despite there being a number of diverse operations, with shared finance, HR and Compliance functions.As an SEC registrant the group reports under US GAAP, although local accounts are prepared under IFRS and then converted for US reporting. Key reporting lines were Finance – split into SA and International, with the latter being responsible for US reporting; Investor Relations, Human Resources, Business Intelligence and Compliance. I was involved in all financial related matters and sat on the boards of some of the group’s investments. Particular focus areas have been corporate finance and funding matters. Show less

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  Lesaka Technologies Inc.

  Mar 2022 - Feb 2023

  Chief Accounting Officer

  I took on the newly created role as I had the ideal institutional background and technical skills, and relished the opportunity to add value in a new capacity. The role was to oversee the financial reporting function with particular focus on the US GAAP and SEC requirements, treasury management, and assist in building capacity in key areas: Governance, Risk and Compliance, and Financial and Business Analysis within Lesaka Group. This was necessitated by the increased complexity following the acquisition of the Connect Group and the longer-term strategic goals of the business. During my tenure, we built a much-expanded Risk and Compliance team, including the appointment of a Group Chief Risk Officer, and significantly raised the profile of these functions in the group. We also ran tender processes to appoint new internal and external auditors.We also created a dedicated Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) function, appointing a head of the function and bringing in additional resources to improve performance measurement and forecasting.These initiatives built the capacity to fit the size, purpose and complexity of the new Lesaka Group. Show less