Petra Diamonds Elevates Interim CEOs to Permanent Status

Vivek Gadodia and Juan Kemp are now the permanent co-CEOs of Petra Diamonds Ltd. and will continue to lead the business in a market rife with challenges for diamond miners. Petra, which operates the Cullinan and Finsch mines (pictured), saw sales decline 33 percent and losses grow 68 percent in its most recent fiscal year. (Photo courtesy of Petra Diamonds Ltd.)

London—Petra Diamonds Ltd. announced that its interim co-CEOs, who’ve been running the company since February, are now permanent joint CEOs. 

Vivek Gadodia and Juan Kemp took over following the resignation of Richard Duffy, who had been with the company since 2019.

Gadodia, who has been with Petra since 2021 and was chief restructuring officer before he became co-CEO, will continue to oversee corporate matters.

Kemp, who was an operations executive at the Cullinan mine, will continue to oversee the mining company’s operations. 

In a joint statement, the two executives said they have delivered a “streamlined, more resilient business,” having overseen the successful refinancing of the company and sold off two of its four diamond mining operations over the past nine months.  

“We look forward to steering the company on a permanent basis as we continue our focus on the execution of our extension projects as we look to unlock value for our stakeholders in the short to medium term,” Gadodia and Kemp said.   

The announcement of Gadodia and Kemp’s appointments as permanent co-CEOs followed the company’s annual general meeting, held Nov. 27. 

After the meeting, the company also formally announced changes to its board and the results of the rights issue it launched in October to help keep it afloat.  

A rights issue is a financing mechanism that gives a company’s existing shareholders the opportunity to buy more shares, usually at a discounted price.  

Petra said shareholders purchased 94,466,889 of the more than 114,000,000 new ordinary shares offered (about 83 percent).  

The rights issue, which was underwritten by a select group of shareholders who agreed to purchase all shares that were not sold, hit its target of £18.8 million (about $25.1 million).  

The company said it will use the money for general working capital purposes.  

Petra Diamonds operates two diamonds mines, Cullinan and Finsch, both located in South Africa.