New Director - Louis du Preez.

Incorporated in Guernsey. Guernsey registration number: 47656

South African external company registration number: 2009/012636/10

Share code on JSE:GML (General Segment of JSE Main Board) / AIM:GEM

ISIN: GG00BG0KTL52   |   LEI: 21380017GAVXTCYS5R31

("Gemfields" or the "Group" or the "Company")

New Director - Louis du Preez

LONDON, 25 JUNE 2025

Gemfields is pleased to announce the appointment of Louis du Preez to Gemfields' Board as Non-Executive Director from today. Louis is a representative of Rational Expectations (Pty) Ltd, per the disclosures in the Company's recent Prospectus published on 20 May 2025. Louis du Preez's appointment follows regulatory due diligence and the approval of shareholders at the Company's Annual General Meeting held earlier this morning.

Louis du Preez background

Louis du Preez qualified as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa in 1997 after completing his articles. An accomplished legal and corporate executive, he has extensive experience in corporate governance, commercial strategy and cross-border transactions. Mr du Preez became a partner at Jan S de Villiers in 1998. Following the firm's merger with Werksmans Attorneys in 2009, he served on the national executive committee, playing a pivotal role in shaping the firm's strategic direction until 2017.

Mr du Preez has held multiple board positions across a number of organisations. Mr du Preez was appointed as a non-executive director at KAP Industrial Holdings Limited in 2017 (and resigned in 2019) and as director at Pepkor Holdings Limited in 2018 (a directorship he still holds). In 2017, Mr du Preez joined Steinhoff International (now Ibex Holdings) as General Counsel, progressing to Commercial Director in December 2017 before being appointed Group CEO effective 1 January 2019. He currently still fulfils the role of Group CEO of Ibex Holdings. With a deep understanding of corporate restructuring, financial oversight and strategic decision-making, Mr du Preez continues to contribute his expertise at all levels of business leadership. Mr du Preez is a South African citizen.

Louis du Preez current and previous (held within past five years) Board appointments

Louis du Preez has been involved in the senior management of the Steinhoff Group (now Ibex Group) since December 2017, after the public announcement of the accounting irregularities on 5 December 2017. A number of entities within the Steinhoff Group have undergone a number of restructuring processes in various jurisdictions since then including the Netherlands, United Kingdom and South Africa. These include (i) company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) of Steinhoff Europe AG and Steinhoff Finance Holding GmbH in 2018-2019 in the United Kingdom, (ii) a suspension of payment of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. in 2021 in the Netherlands, (iii) a section 155 scheme of arrangement of SIHPL (Pty) Ltd in South Africa in 2022, and (iv) a Wet Homologatie Onderhands Akkoord (WHOA) process of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. in mid 2023 in the Netherlands which resulted in the formation of the new Ibex Group and the ultimate liquidation on a voluntary basis of Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. in the second half of 2023 in the Netherlands.

Blue Group Hold Co Limited, which Louis was a Director from 10 June 2019 until 14 November 2019, entered administration on 30 June 2020 following a period of significant financial distress worsened by trading underperformance and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The administration concluded on 4 July 2022. Despite the successful asset sale and partial recovery for the secured creditor-estimated between 61 percent to 69 percent, Blue Group Hold Co Limited itself had no realisable assets and reported an estimated deficiency of GBP 42.7 million to unsecured creditors. With no dividend expected for unsecured creditors, the company was dissolved on 4 October 2022 following the completion of statutory duties and final reporting.

Louis (aged 56) does not hold any legal or beneficial direct or indirect interest in the ordinary shares of the Company.

There are no further disclosures to be made under Schedule 2 (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

-ENDS-

Further information on Gemfields Group Limited can be found at:

 GEMFIELDSGROUP.COM

To join our investor mailing list, please contact us on:
ir@gemfields.com

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