Standard Bank shakes up the beverage sector with Beverages HoldCo disposal
28 Oct 2024
Standard Bank acted as sole financial adviser to Chill Beverages and Inhle Beverages. Chill Beverages and Inhle Beverages are owned by Old Mutual Private Equity and the Management team. The bank leveraged its strong relationships with potential bidders in order to secure the best deal for the sellers and acted as joint lender to consortium for the acquisition funding.
By combining its product development, brand ownership, manufacturing, co-packing, and sales and marketing capabilities, Beverages HoldCo is a fully integrated beverage powerhouse. It has one of the largest independent production capacities spread across 2 facilities in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, and Heidelberg, Gauteng. These facilities are strategically located to cross produce at scale closer to the source of demand while reducing transport costs and giving the company a competitive advantage. The facilities are also equipped with generators and solar panels to prevent potential production disruptions during loadshedding.
Led by a highly skilled management team, Beverages HoldCo has demonstrated a strong ability to create market-leading brands, and its current portfolio includes brands such as Score energy drink, Fitch & Leedes mixers and Chateau Del Rei canned perlé sparkling wine. The company manufactures its own brands and uses excess capacity to co-pack for other companies in the energy drinks and alcoholic beverages industry.
Beverages HoldCo has the potential to achieve continuous growth, which is underpinned by the attractive growth segments of the market, the company’s hybrid operating model as well as its highly successful new-product development function with a proven track record of conceptualising and building new products and brands.
This transaction provided the bank with an opportunity to showcase our ability to advise on efficient, value-enhancing sell-side processes for our clients. Our in-depth sector knowledge allows us to facilitate transactions in a manner that continues to drive each client's growth. The Food and Beverage sector is one of the major contributors to our country’s economy, and we believe that this transaction will contribute to the growth of the sector.