UPDATED: Christoeffel Wiese’s investment firm Brait has acquired a 90% stake in fashion retailer New Look for £1.9bn. We profiled him in 2013 when he was eyeing BHS.

Wiese is a self-made South African billionaire with a personal fortune of £2.2bn. He is chairman and largest shareholder of two South African retail groups, Pepkor and Shoprite. Former Tesco UK boss Richard Brasher worked for a short while at the latter before heading to rival Pick n Pay.

Wiese is also understood to be looking into investing in a fixed-price retailer such as Poundland, to take advantage of the value sector which has enjoyed strong growth since the onset of the downturn.

The idea of buying Sir Philip Green’s department store chain might raise a few eyebrows in the UK, where the retailer has struggled of late. It does, however, have stores in good locations and a strong brand heritage.

But Wiese won’t be that interested in BHS’s domestic performance, says Planet Retail analyst Isabel Cavill. Instead, he is looking for a UK business to learn from and export to South Africa.

“The value clothing sector in South Africa is really heating up and there is a lot to learn,” she says. She adds that BHS is already franchised overseas and is likely to work well in more family oriented markets such as the Middle East. The brand could well build on its overseas business, she says. In addition, executives at the retailer will have valuable experience of manufacturing and distributing own-brand value fashion.

The value clothing market has big potential in the country, Cavill says – Walmart has opened a George pop-up store and local operator Mr Price has recently launched an international online operation.

There is also scope for a single price brand in South Africa, she adds, because many consumers are on low incomes.

Wiese made most of his money through his controlling stake in Pepkor Limited. He is from a small town in South Africa, where his business was founded at the height of Apartheid in 1965. He has spoken of the role red tape has played in holding back South Africa’s economy, and found himself in an awkward situation in 2009 when $1.1m in cash was found in his luggage and confiscated at London City Airport. The cash was finally returned in July 2012.