SAPPI LIMITED - Sappi appoints Graeme Wild as Chief Executive Officer of its South African operations

Sappi appoints Graeme Wild as Chief Executive Officer of its South African operations

Sappi Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number: 1936/008963/06)
JSE share code: SAP
ISIN code: ZAE000006284
("Sappi" or the "Company")

Sappi appoints Graeme Wild as Chief Executive Officer of its South African operations

Sappi Limited, a global leader in dissolving wood pulp, as well as graphic, packaging and
speciality papers and biomaterials, is pleased to announce that Graeme Wild (52), currently
Vice President Sales and Marketing at Sappi Southern Africa, has been appointed as CEO of
Sappi Southern Africa as from 01 December 2024. Graeme Wild succeeds Alex Thiel, who
has been CEO of Sappi Southern Africa for 14 years and will now assume new strategic project
duties until his retirement at the end of December 2025.

Steve Binnie, Chief Executive Officer of Sappi Limited, commenting on the contribution of Alex
Thiel, said:

"I would like to thank Alex for his significant service to date to Sappi during his 34 years with
the Company and for the support he has shown me as CEO. He is an outstanding leader both
for the Company and for the industry. Returning from Sappi Europe in 2010, he led the
restructuring and repositioning of the South African business to improve profitability, align with
our group strategic objectives and deliver on our sustainability commitments. The region
streamlined and focused its operations and product portfolio, enhanced customer
engagement, improved efficiencies as well as safety performance and implemented a number
of expansion and performance improvement projects, including the recent dissolving pulp
expansion and environmental improvements project at Saiccor Mill. I also wish to commend
him on his leadership during the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic and the
disruptions of 2021 and 2022."

"When I was appointed CEO in 2014, Alex provided me with significant support and he was a
member of the executive committee that developed and rolled out our debt reduction and our
Thrive business strategies. He successfully refocused the business on the dissolving pulp and
containerboard segments with sales revenue increasing from R11,7 billion to R27,1 billion and
EBITDA from R1,8 billion to a record R6 billion."
                                                                                     
Graeme Wild joined Sappi Southern Africa in 1995 as a forester, rising to strategy manager
for Sappi Forests before moving to Sappi Limited. In 2012 he was appointed Group Head
Investor Relations and Sustainability, with additional responsibility for a global procurement
optimisation work stream. He returned to Sappi Southern Africa in his current role in January
2021 with responsibility for the marketing and sales of all Sappi products in South Africa. He
has overseen growth in the containerboard segment to supply the significant increase in
demand from citrus exporters and the development of new packaging grades for the food (on-
shelf) and fast-food (take-away) markets.

On the appointment of Graeme Wild, Steve Binnie said:

"I am pleased that we are able to ensure a smooth transition in leadership from Alex to Graeme.
Graeme is an experienced leader who has served the group at a global level, has deep
understanding of investors as well as the increased priority of sustainability concerns. He has
been integral to the development and execution of Sappi's strategy and the investments and
decisions we have made in South Africa to ensure we maintain our domestic leadership in
paper and packaging, along with our dissolving pulp and forestry asset investments. I am
confident that, under Graeme's leadership, the business will take the next steps to ensure
competitiveness and the adjustments required by our sustainability commitments, while
delivering clear value to the communities where we operate.

"The appointment is testimony to the success of Sappi's strong succession planning processes
and the importance we place on stability and continuity during any such leadership transition."

Graeme Wild holds a B.Sc. Forestry degree from University of Stellenbosch, a MBA (cum
laude) from Gordon Institute of Business Science, as well as a Sappi MDP from SBL, UNISA
and he has completed the Executive Education programme at Harvard Business School, USA.

19 September 2024

Sponsor: RAND MERCHANT BANK (A division of FirstRand Bank Limited)

Date: 19-09-2024 10:00:00
Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE'). 
The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of
 the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, 
indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on,
 information disseminated through SENS.