ABOUT US

Ours is a family office established in 2015 by seasoned entrepreneurs, Romain and Adam Orlin. Our aim has always been to partner with smart, like-minded individuals and to provide the necessary capital and management expertise to enable entrepreneurs to scale their businesses. This is how we create superior and sustainable investment returns for all shareholders.

Our purpose

Our main objective is to build businesses, preserve capital, and ultimately, create generational wealth. Most importantly, we want to have fun along the way and build lasting, cherished relationships with all our stakeholders in our journey towards success.

OUR TEAM

Romain Orlin

BA ECONOMICS

Having worked in his father’s clothing retail store, Kays, from an early age, Romain started one of the first computerised mail-order businesses in South Africa, producing 100,000 Kays catalogues a year.

Next, he developed a line of trousers, Brentwood N.Y. and then started a wholesale distribution business, Skye Products, which was the first South African distributor of Converse footwear. Skye acquired the local agencies for Saucony and Dickies before the business was sold to the LA Group in 1998.

Romain also partnered with Dion Friedlander in establishing the first appliance discounting business in South Africa, which eventually became Dion Stores. In 2002, Romain joined Adam in starting Blue Strata Trading.

Adam Orlin

B COMM

After a short stint with Investec Properties, Adam went to work for David Kuper, managing his various business interests, including overseeing the successful merger of the Kuper-Legh property group portfolio with a Sanlam property portfolio.

This deal resulted in the JSE listing of the merged entity as Vukile Property Fund. In 2002, Adam founded Blue Strata Trading, a premium import and working capital specialist. Blue Strata pioneered the combination of physical and financial supply chains into a comprehensive, digital one-stop solution for clients. Having sold the business to Investec Bank Limited in 2015, Adam remained with Investec, building and heading up a new division, Investec for Business, targeting well-established mid-sized corporates seeking growth. Adam was a member of the Executive Committee of Investec Bank Limited and continues to be involved in a consultancy capacity.

Werner Hugo

B COMM LLB, B COMPT ACC, CA (SA)

After having qualified both as an attorney and chartered accountant, Werner joined The Bidvest Group Limited in 2007 as a Corporate Finance Executive.

During his tenure at Bidvest, he was involved in various deals, including the acquisition and delisting of Amalgamated Appliances Limited and Mvelaserve Limited, the partial disposal of Mumbai International Airport Limited, the acquisitions of Brandcorp and Plumblink, and the unbundling and separate listing of Bid Corporation, Bidvest’s global foodservice business in 2016. Werner joined Long4Life Limited in 2018, heading up the personal care and wellness cluster and overseeing the group’s corporate finance activities. When Long4Life was acquired by Old Mutual Private Equity in 2022, Werner joined Morris Orlin Capital Partners.