Jewish Life Digital Edition October 2015 | Page 32

BUSINESS BRAINS

PORTRAITS IN SUCCESS

Roland Sassoon
and Sasfin

Growing the family
business

BY ILAN PRESKOVSKY

28 JEWISH LIFE ■ ISSUE 89

SASFIN WAS LESS ABOUT MAJOR
EVOLUTIONARY LEAPS AND MORE ABOUT
GROWING THE BUSINESS ONE SMALL STEP AND
ONE SMALL ACQUISITION AT A TIME.
focus squarely on financing businesses, but
started to take on more and more clients as
the months and years passed. They would
effectively act as brokers who would sell off
the deals to different banks. The business
continued to grow until it reached a major
turning point in 1987 when, with the help
of Martin Glatt, who became a significant
shareholder and chairman, the company
was listed on the development capital market of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
(before graduating a year later to the main
board of JSE), which proved to be a major
boost not just to the company itself, but to
its reputation with banks [