JOHANNESBURG, July 30 (Reuters) - South Africa's retailer Edcon has named Bernard Brookes as its new CEO, the retailer said on Thursday, as the debt-burdened company tries to restructure its debt to repay bondholders.
Brookes, a veteran of Australian firms Woolworths WOW.AX and Myer MYR.AX , takes office on September 30, two months after an offer to bondholders gave Edcon more breathing space.
Edcon said on Wednesday the debt restructuring would decrease its interest payment obligations by more than 1 billion rand a year and lower the debt that affects its cashflow by about 5.9 billion rand.
The operator of stores such as Edgars, Jet and CNA was taken private by Bain Capital in a heavily leveraged buyout in 2007.
Brookes replaces Jurgen Schreiber, amid a drop in credit sales as consumers in Africa's most advanced economy have tightened their belts in the face of the first interest rate increases in six years.
($1 = 12.6328 rand)