Faan and Dirk van der Walt, the billionaire co-founders and co-CEOs of WeBuyCars, formally activated their mandatory offer for JSE-listed RMB Holdings (RMH) on 8 April 2026, distributing the Combined Circular to RMH shareholders and confirming the salient dates and times applicable to the offer. The move brings into sharp focus a deliberate pivot by the brothers away from the automotive business that made them wealthy and toward a property-anchored investment platform built around one of South Africa’s most established private developers.
The Structure of the Deal
The van der Walt brothers are acquiring RMH through their vehicle AttBid, which is 51% owned by the brothers and 49% by Atterbury Property Fund. AttBid has made a mandatory offer to acquire all RMH shares not currently held by Atterbury, at R0.47 per share, valuing the company at R654.58 million, barely above RMH’s market value of R640.75 million.
Once completed, AttBid will hold 71.65% of RMH, with Atterbury holding the remaining 28.35% directly. The van der Walt brothers’ effective economic interest in RMH will be approximately 36.54%.
The cash settlement is fully secured. Standard Bank South Africa has provided an irrevocable unconditional guarantee backing AttBid’s cash commitments to RMH shareholders.
Investec, acting as independent expert, concluded that the terms of the offer are fair and reasonable to RMH shareholders, though the offer price sits at the bottom of Investec’s estimated fair value range of R0.47 to R0.53.
What RMH Actually Is
Understanding why the brothers want RMH requires understanding what the company has become. RMH began unbundling its investments in 2019, selling its stake in FirstRand and retaining predominantly property-related investments through a 38.5% interest in Atterbury Property Holdings. The shift repositioned the company as an investment holding vehicle with a focus on monetising its property portfolio, a strategy that proved difficult to execute, with no compelling alternative buyers emerging for its Atterbury stake.
Having already disposed of its banking interests, RMH’s remaining value is essentially its Atterbury-linked property position. The board described AttBid as “the most natural acquirer” of RMH, given Atterbury’s existing 49% stake in AttBid. The transaction collapses the listed holding structure and returns the underlying property assets to direct private ownership.
The Timeline and Exit
The transaction is expected to close by June 1, with May 26 the last day for shareholders to trade and participate in the offer. If AttBid acquires 90% or more of the outstanding shares, it can compulsorily acquire the remainder. The intention is to delist RMH from the JSE entirely.
Coronation Fund Managers, which held 28% of RMH at the end of September 2025, had already disposed of its position to AttBid ahead of the April 8 announcement. The combined AttBid and Atterbury holding had risen to 42.59% of the company by the time the circular was distributed.
Capital Strategy in Motion
The RMH deal did not emerge in isolation. The brothers sold R866.4 million worth of WeBuyCars shares on 2 February 2026, just a week before AttBid announced its initial intention to acquire RMH, a sequence that triggered speculation the proceeds were earmarked for the property deal. WeBuyCars dismissed the speculation, with co-founder Faan van der Walt stating that they had committed to the RMH opportunity long before the share sale and that the timing was coincidental.
Whether or not the two events were connected, the direction is clear. The brothers built WeBuyCars from a single-vehicle hobby into South Africa’s dominant used-car marketplace, then progressively reduced their listed exposure. The RMH acquisition is the most explicit signal yet that Atterbury-linked property, a relationship the van der Walt family cultivated over many years, is where the next phase of their capital deployment is anchored.
RMH reported an operating loss of R243 million for its 2025 full year, largely on account of impairments in Atterbury and higher credit loss provisions. Taking the company private removes the listed cost burden and gives the brothers and Atterbury direct control over a portfolio that spans retail, commercial, and residential developments across the country.
For South African wealth watchers, this transaction is a study in patient capital deployment. The van der Walt brothers are not chasing yield. They are acquiring structural influence in a long-standing private property platform, and doing it quietly, at market price, without fanfare.
