South Africa's Mediclinic says CEO to retire next year

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The chief executive of South Africa's Mediclinic International will retire next year after eight years in the role, the private healthcare group said on Tuesday. Danie Meintjes, a 22-year veteran of South Africa's largest private hospital group, oversaw the company's merger with Al Noor in 2015, which extended its reach into Abu Dhabi and moved Mediclinic's primary listing to London. Meintjes will retire on 31 July 2018, the company said, adding that it will start searching for a successor to facilitate a smooth transition, without giving more detail on the process. "Danie has been instrumental to the development of Mediclinic and the implementation of our strategy over 20 years of service to the group," Chairman Edwin Hertzog said. Outside its home market, Mediclinic owns the Hirslanden private hospital group in Switzerland, holds a 29.9 percent stake in Britain's Spire Healthcare and has operations in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. "Danie Meintjes’s retirement was unexpected. But while he is a very well respected operator and was instrumental in growing the business, the company as a whole is far greater than just one individual," said 36 One Asset Management analyst Shmuel Simpson. South Africa-listed shares in Mediclinic were up 2.3 percent at 125.93 rand by 1010 GMT, compared with a 0.6 percent rise in the JSE's benchmark Top-40 index. "Some investors may be of the view that a new CEO could possibly take a different approach in dealing with some of the regulatory and operational issues facing Mediclinic," Simpson said. Mediclinic reported a 19 percent drop in underlying annual earnings in May, hurt by regulations in the Middle East that have now been changed. (Reporting by TJ Strydom, editing by Louise Heavens)