Hein Pretorius

Current

CEO at MIH Internet Europe (subsidiary Naspers Group)
Board Member at Allegro Group
Board Member at Ricardo Group

Board Member at Mailru
Board Member at Gadu-Gadu S.A.
Board Member at Nimbuzz.com

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Recommendations

3 recommendations

Connections

346 connections

Industry

Internet

Hein Pretorius’s Summary

Strategic exec with broad experience in all aspects of the Internet industry (Web2.0; Social Networking; IM; Casual/Social Gaming & MMOG; Online Media, B2C; C2C; B2B; VPN's; ISP's). Direct experience with strategic and operational management within these businesses, from start-ups to mature. Experienced in new business development with regards to M&A activities and in identifying businesses with a strategic fit or leveraging postion within our group. Interested in the evolution of the Internet from Web2.0 into Web3.0 and beyond.

Hein Pretorius’s Specialties:

Strategic & operational management
Business modelling
Research and new business development (M&A focused)
Business restructuring

Hein Pretorius’s Experience

CEO

MIH Internet Europe (subsidiary Naspers Group)

(Public Company; NPNJq.L; Internet industry)

September 2008 — Present (2 years 1 month)

The group’s most significant operations are located in emerging markets. This includes South Africa and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, China, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and India.

Naspers is a leading multinational media group, incorporated in 1915 as a public limited liability company and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in September 1994. The company also has an ADR listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Over the past two decades the group has evolved from a traditional print media business in one country, to a broad-based e-media company in multiple markets.

The group’s principal operations are in internet platforms (focussing on commerce, communities, content, communication and games), pay-television and the provision of related technologies and print media (including publishing, distribution and printing of magazines, newspapers and books). Most of Naspers’s businesses hold leading market positions.

The group’s most significant operations are located in South Africa and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, China, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Netherlands, India, Brazil and Thailand.

MIH Internet Europe consists of The Allegro Group, The Ricardo Group, DST (Mail.ru, Astrum Online, ICQ,etc.), Gadu-Gadu and Nimbuzz.
Board Member

Allegro Group

(Public Company; NPNJq.L; Internet industry)

March 2008 — Present (2 years 7 months)

The Allegro group comprises auction and fixed-price transaction platforms, classifieds platforms (ie auto, real estate, jobs and travel classifieds), comparison and social shopping sites, as well as a payments platform.

A number of these services operate across Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Allegro expanded its operations in these markets during the year, whilst consolidating its position in Russia, where it co-owns Molotok with mail.ru. The latter is the number one transaction trading platform in that market. In Hungary Allegro obtained a 100% interest in Teszvesz, a transaction platform, and acquired Vatera (an online auction platform).
Board Member

Ricardo Group

(Public Company; NPNJq.L; Internet industry)

March 2008 — Present (2 years 7 months)

The Ricardo Group operates leading online marketplaces in five Western European countries, namely Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Austria and Greece, under the websites Ricardo.ch, qxl.dk, qxl.no, Ricardo.at and Ricardo.gr. All operations are run on a single technology platform, with local marketing, sales and product Groups in each territorial market.
Board Member

Mailru

(Non-Profit; Civic & Social Organization industry)

2008 — Present (2 years )

Mail.ru is a leading provider of internet, communication and online gaming services to the global Russian-speaking community. Ranked as the number one email service for Russian speaking users, it markets and provides a wide range of communication, social networking, casual & social gaming and MMOG services.
Board Member

Gadu-Gadu S.A.

(Public Company; Information Technology and Services industry)

December 2007 — Present (2 years 10 months)

Gadu-Gadu (GGU S.A.) is a communications and media company based in Warsaw, Poland. A local hero brand, it is by far the leading Internet communications provider in Poland and has operations in Romania, Bulgaria and the Ukraine.
Launched in 2000 as an instant messaging tool (currently used by at least 50% of all Polish Internet users), Gadu-Gadu now operates leading VOIP, chat, social networking and community offerings across mobile and fixed platforms.

Gadu-Gadu extended its core instant-messaging leadership and increased its registered user base to 15 million. Gadu-Gadu’s casual gaming portal had some 500 000 active users at the end of March 2009.
Board Member

Nimbuzz.com

(Privately Held; Internet industry)

May 2007 — Present (3 years 5 months)

Nimbuzz is a mobile social messenger combining instant messaging, (geo) presence, and VoIP across popular communities, including Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, AIM, and social networks including Facebook and MySpace. The free application is available on the mobile, web and PC, for instant messaging, location sharing, (group) calling, file sharing, and chat rooms.

Nimbuzz officially launched in May 2008 ans was recognized by indutsry experts as “Best Converged Solution” at the Mobile News Awards 2009 . In January 2009, Nimbuzz was awarded the prestigious Red Herring 100 Global and Europe award, as the first aggregated mobile instant messenger product ever. In July 2008, Nimbuzz was recognized by industry experts at AO Stanford Summit as part of the Global Top 250 technology companies for game-changing technology and market value.