The 5 most popular stories on Africa Private Equity News this week
Here are summaries of the five most widely read stories this week on Africa Private Equity News.
1. Sale of Burger King South Africa to ECP renegotiated
Investment holding company Grand Parade Investments (GPI) has renegotiated the terms of its agreement to sell its stakes in Burger King South Africa (BKSA) and Grand Foods Meat Plant (GFMP) to the ECP Africa Fund IV LLC, managed by private equity firm Emerging Capital Partners.
The renegotiation places the value of BKSA at R570 million (about $32.9 million) and GFMP at R23 million (about $1.3 million). This represents a 15% reduction on the initial offer of R670 million (about $38.6 million) for BKSA and R27 million (about $1.6 million) for GFMP entered into in February 2020.
2. RMB Corvest acquires share in South African energy drinks business
Private equity firm RMB Corvest has partnered with Mark Bowman, former managing director of SABMiller Africa, to acquire an equity interest in South African energy drinks business Switch.
Founded in 2011 by current managing director, Christian Wentzel, Switch manufactures and distributes a wide range of energy drinks. Supplementary products linked to the label, including energy bars and syrups, have also been developed. The business is headquartered in Woodmead, Johannesburg, with warehousing and contract packing undertaken in Heidelberg.
3. AIIM CEO Jurie Swart steps down; new joint-MDs appointed
African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), a member of Old Mutual Alternative Investments, has appointed two joint-managing directors to be based in Cape Town and Lagos, following the retirement of the company’s previous CEO.
Vuyo Ntoi and Sola Lawson have been appointed from within the business, and will continue to sit in their South Africa and Nigeria offices respectively, as two of AIIM’s key markets in sub-Saharan Africa. As AIIM’s new joint-MDs, they take over from Jurie Swart, who has been CEO of AIIM since 2014 and recently elected to take early retirement to focus on a new challenge outside the AIIM business.
4. AHL Venture Partners exits several deals
Africa-focused investor AHL Venture Partners had a busy couple of months exiting deals, according to a company email received by Africa Private Equity News.
AHL exited its investment in the Energy Access Fund (EAF), managed by responsAbility. Following the success of the first EAF fund, AHL opted to invest in responsAbility’s latest Access to Clean Power debt fund, which targets companies that provide solutions to households without access to electricity and to businesses looking for cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy.
In addition, AHL exited its debt position in Zambian agribusiness company COMACO, and supported the sale of its portfolio’s company Zoona’s Malawian unit to Emerging Capital Partners.
5. New Knife Capital-backed VC fund launched in South Africa
South African based business accelerator Grindstone has launched a new venture capital fund, Grindstone Ventures, dedicated to provide early-stage equity funding to its cohorts of companies and alumni.
Grindstone Accelerator is a structured entrepreneurship development programme that is jointly owned by venture capital fund manager Knife Capital and market access specialist Thinkroom Consulting. It takes South African SMEs with proven traction through an intensive year-long review of their strategies and provides them with the necessary support to build a foundation for growth in becoming more investable, sustainable and exit-ready.
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