Marr Holdings – a private single-family office.

ABOUT US

Marr Holdings is a real estate focused family office. We have a flexible and entrepreneurial approach to investments, and embrace all opportunities with a solution driven mindset.

As a family office, our priority is capital preservation requiring the appropriate levels of governance and due diligence on all transactions. We employ a hands-on approach to all our investments with the objective of adding value to both ourselves and our investment partners, where applicable. We are pro-active, responsive and act expeditiously.

Currently, our real estate interests are predominantly located in South Africa. We now actively seek global opportunities to expand and diversify. The markets we are focusing on are North America, the UK and Europe. The location of the future investments will be relationship and opportunity dependent. We welcome both outright acquisitions and joint venture opportunities.

Marr Holdings operates across two key pillars:

PROPERTY

Our property portfolio is diverse covering all sectors. The directors of the family office have over 30 years collective real estate investment experience.

PRIVATE EQUITY

With respect to private equity investments we adopt a passive role and generally only invest with and behind experts in this sector.

Carolyn Kristal: Financial Director

Carolyn is a qualified CA(SA) and completed her articles at BakerTilly Greenwoods.

She joined the HCI Group in 2010 and during her tenure she served on various executive committees. Most notably she held positions as Financial Manager of Formex Industries, a leading Automotive Manufacturer and Chief Financial Officer of Galaxy Bingo, the largest and fastest growing Bingo operator in South Africa. She was appointed as Financial Director of JSE listed Niveus Investments in 2017.

In 2018, Carolyn joined Balfour Investments, an ed-tech / fin-tech start-up Group as CFO, where she spent 2.5 years prior to joining the Marr Holdings team as Financial Director in February 2021.

Kevin Van Straaten: General Manager – Property

Kevin has Bachelor of Architectural Studies degree and after working as a candidate architect for 2 years went on to complete a Post Graduate Diploma in Property Development and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand.

He is currently working towards his master’s degree in property development and management.

Before joining Marr Holdings in 2021, Kevin worked as a property investment analyst at Novare Real Estate South Africa, a private equity advisory firm with a focus toward real estate investment in South Africa. Here he was involved in market research, project due diligence, and the development of the fund’s impact investment policy.