Carl is a qualified Chartered Accountant with extensive commercial experience having co-founded Acorn Private Equity, a leading alternative asset fund manager, in 2009.
He is a respected dealmaker and entrepreneur that serves in different positions on various company boards, and as Chief Investment Officer of Acorn he oversees the management of more than R5 billion in assets alongside a highly regarded investment team.
Prior to founding Acorn, Carl was Global Investment Controller for all real estate and private equity investments at Westmont Group, in partnership with Goldman Sachs and other influential investors.
Carl has gained an extensive network through his vast business interests and has a unique mix of local and international experience that brings a well-tested perspective on value creation, management, and governance.
Lihle is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years’ professional experience in Finance and Leadership.
Lihle joined Ascendis Health in 2016, prior to which she was at Barloworld and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Her expansive career includes various finance positions, where she played an integral role in the improvement of finance processes and reporting. Lihle not only excelled in her financial role, but also operationally as the Managing Director for one of the Ascendis portfolio companies where she focused on financial excellence and strategic growth. During her time at Ascendis, she has also led multiple companies as the Head of Finance, where her responsibilities spanned overseeing the financial health of the group, driving strategic initiatives, and ensuring effective financial planning and analysis.
Masters degree in Economics
Doctorate (PhD) in international economics (magna cum laude)
Guest lecturer at MBA school of University of Stellenbosch from 2010 – 2015
Non-executive director
Karsten has extensive top-management and M & A experience with global health care and retail companies. Karsten was the co-founder and group CEO of Ascendis Health (Pty) Ltd seeing the company through its listing onto the JSE and growth in its former years. He is the founder of GEC Consulting, has been a director of Alpha Pharm Western Cape and EC Holdings and worked for the listed global health care company Fresenius for 18 years in various countries and regions like Germany, Switzerland, Eastern Europe, Middle East and South Africa.
Bharti is a seasoned director with over 10 years of experience, gaining valuable insights into board deliberations relating to shareholder/stakeholder relations; traversing tough economic times and of late, black swan events such as Covid-19 and how
businesses are now planning in a recovery phase. She presently serves as an independent non-executive on the following boards, where she also is chairman of various sub-committees (Remco, Audit and Social and Ethics):
• Stefanutti Stocks Limited (JSE listed, since April 2018), Construction and engineering
• Lenmed Investments Limited (Lenmed) (since September 2010), Private hospital group
• Bell Equipment Sales South Africa (since May 2017), nonexecutive director/equity partner), SA division of the listed yellow metals OEM
• St. Davids Marist Brothers, lnanda (since November 2019), Deputy Chair. Independent boys’ school
• EOH Holdings Limited (as from 1 January 2021), Tech holding group
Bharti has previously served as Lead Independent Non-Executive Director of Ascendis Health Limited. Bharti holds a BA LLB (Natal) & LLM (Wits) – she is an Admitted Attorney, Notary and Conveyancer.
Amaresh is a qualified corporate professional with a B Com, PG Dip Bus Mngmt and an MBA as well as courses completed in Valuations, Corporate Restructuring, Mergers and Acquisitions from UND, HBS and UCT.
He has in excess of 20 years’ investment and commercial experience with significant healthcare experience having previously completed a R1 billion empowerment transaction with Medi Clinic.
Amaresh has extensive capital markets experience supplemented with operational experience and transactions that have ranged from early stage to growth capital, replacement capital and leveraged buy- outs, and includes cross-border transactions.
He has previously served as Head of Private Equity at a family office and was a founder director of lthuba, the operator of the South African national lottery.
Amaresh brings an extensive network of corporate relationships and currently holds several active directorship roles including on various audit, remco and investment sub-committees.
Theunis is an accomplished businessman and qualified chartered accountant. He is the founder and managing director of Calibre Capital, a material shareholder in the Company, and he brings to the Company a wealth of broad experience across a number of sectors and business disciplines, including private equity, asset management and investment research. Theunis has been educated in South Africa (University of Pretoria and UNISA) and the United States of America (Harvard).
With an educational foundation in accounting, he earned a Bachelor of Accountancy degree from Stellenbosch University and an Honours B.Compt degree from the University of South Africa, culminating in the successful completion of the Board Exam of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Professionally, he has demonstrated leadership and financial acumen in a range of high-profile roles. As Financial Director at V3 Consulting Engineers Inc (now Kwezi V3), he played a key role in guiding the company’s financial strategy. This experience was followed by a significant tenure as Financial Director at GWK Limited, a major agricultural enterprise in the Northern Cape. In the role of Financial Director and later Managing Director at ACG Fruit, he contributed to the company’s strategic direction and operational success.
Currently, he applies a deep understanding of financial markets as a swing trader in the forex markets, leveraging a blend of analytical skills and market insight to navigate the complexities of currency trading.
