DEG acquires minority equity stake in Nigerian FMCG manufacturer
German development finance institution DEG announced the acquisition of a minority equity stake in Ashwah Holdings, the parent company of Daraju Industries, one of Nigeria’s leading manufacturers of FMCG products in the personal care and household care segment. Ashwah is also currently a portfolio company of African Capital Alliance (ACA). As part of this deal, DEG will provide growth financing as well as advisory services to the management of the company.
Daraju Industries manufactures and trades over 100 stock keeping units of products tailored to meet the everyday needs of the middle to mass market consumers in Nigeria. The group’s key competitiveness lies in the company’s value for money offerings, strong brands, diversified product portfolio, and significant production capacity.
Speaking on the transaction, Tunji Nelson, investment manager at DEG said, “We are delighted to be partnering with ACA in supporting the continued growth of Ashwah. We strongly believe that this is the ideal time to enter the personal care FMCG market in Nigeria, and that Ashwah, via Daraju, provides an excellent platform. We look forward to supporting Ashwah and management in the company’s next phase of development.”
Paul Kokoricha, partner at ACA said, “Since our investment in 2018, Ashwah has continued to grow its operations and expand its manufacturing base. The management team, under the visionary and disciplined leadership of Peeyush Garg, have repeatedly demonstrated resilience and a deep understanding of the Nigerian FMCG market and this has reaffirmed our confidence in the company’s ability to deliver strong returns to our fund. ACA welcomes DEG as a co-investor in Ashwah. We are optimistic, that this partnership will further enable Ashwah deliver on its agreed targets, and likely exceed the expectations of all stakeholders. This makes us truly excited.”
Peeyush Garg, chairman and CEO of Ashwah said, “Together with our entire management team, we are very excited to be partnering with DEG. We are confident about DEG’s strong commitment to providing us with the additional technical backing that will continuously enable us to support our customers. DEG definitely has the capacity, expertise, and network, to support us in expanding our business, as well as deliver innovative solutions for our market.”
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