South Africa: Alterra-led consortium to buy Chill Beverages from Old Mutual PE
South Africa: Alterra-led consortium to buy Chill Beverages from Old Mutual PE
Alterra Capital Partners has partnered with the Mineworkers Investment Company and Admaius Capital Partners to acquire a majority stake.
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Alterra Capital Partners has partnered with South Africa’s Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) and Admaius Capital Partners, to acquire a majority stake in Chill Beverages from Old Mutual Private Equity. This acquisition marks the first investment by Alterra’s Africa Accelerator Fund (AAA Fund).
Chill’s range includes Score energy drinks, Fitch & Leedes premium mixers and Chateau Del Rei sparkling wine. The business has delivered historic growth in excess of 20% per annum.
The company has manufacturing facilities in Gauteng and the Western Cape. The Alterra Consortium intends to further support Chill through additional marketing spend on its brands, increased focus on developing a wider Gauteng distribution network and investment in new product development to extend its product range.
Bruce Steen, partner at Alterra, remarked: “On behalf of the Alterra Consortium we are very excited to be investing in Chill Beverages. Energy drinks is the fastest growing beverage category in South Africa and Score is a significant player in this market. The recent launch of Chateau Del Rei has been very successful and its potential is enormous. We look forward to partnering with management to deliver on our robust value creation initiatives and believe Chill can continue to go from strength to strength.”
Chumani Kula, co-head of Old Mutual Private Equity said: “As OMPE, our modus operandi is to partner with strong management teams to deliver superior business growth by significantly empowering them through business ownership and inculcating a strong growth mindset. We are very proud of having invested in the business and the opportunity to partner with such a strong management team. We wish the business and the management team continued success in their next chapter with the Alterra Consortium.”
MIC’s CEO, Mary Bomela, said the investment represented an attractive growth opportunity: "MIC has maintained a keen interest in investment opportunities within the food and beverage sector. We are pleased to be part of the team supporting a bourgeoning South African beverage company in Chill. Through this partnership, we aim to drive positive transformation and sustained success within Chill Beverages."
Debt financing for the transaction is being provided by Standard Bank and RMB. Advisors on the transaction included Webber Wentzel, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr and ENS on legal, as well as EY on financial due diligence.
Closing of the deal remains subject to the satisfaction of standard regulatory conditions. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
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