Gulf Capital exits sports nutrition distributor
Gulf Capital exits sports nutrition distributor
Gulf Capital has completed the sale of AmCan, a distributor of sports nutrition brands.
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Gulf Capital has completed the sale of 100% of AmCan – the exclusive distributor of many global sports nutrition brands across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region – to a regional FMCG distributor operating across the Middle East and Africa.
Gulf Capital invested in AmCan in 2016 from its third buyout fund, GC Equity Partners III, to gain exposure to the fast-growing wellness and sports and nutrition supplements market in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
During Gulf Capital’s ownership, AmCan grew its revenues and gross margin by more than 50%. To achieve these results, AmCan expanded geographically by leveraging its exclusive regional agencies, deepened its market reach by investing in operating processes and tools, and strengthened its distribution model with optimised working capital and enhanced trading terms.
Dr. Karim El Solh, co-founder and CEO of Gulf Capital said, “As a thematic investor, our investment in AmCan was underpinned by the secular trends and shifts in consumer behaviour that continue to fuel the growth of the health and wellness sector across the Middle East. The disciplined execution of our value creation plan by AmCan’s management team and Gulf Capital’s operating partners have allowed AmCan to cement and expand its market leading position in the region with continued improvement of its operating metrics and overall profitability. We are very proud of the remarkable growth of AmCan during Gulf Capital’s ownership period and of the strong returns we have delivered to our third buyout fund investors. This control growth buyout with a deep focus on operational improvement and earnings’ growth, followed by a highly successful sale to a regional strategic buyer, is a great illustration of Gulf Capital’s unique investment strategy in our high growth region.”
Gulf Capital was advised by Global Gate Capital, Eversheds Sutherland and PwC on this strategic sale. The buyer was advised by Nucleus Consulting and Ashurst.
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