In a strategic move to expand its investment portfolio, Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) has acquired a stake in Chill Beverages, the renowned owner of the premium mixer brand Fitch & Leedes.
The acquisition marks a significant step for MIC as it ventures further into the beverage industry, highlighting its commitment to diversifying its holdings and supporting innovative South African businesses.
The partnership is poised to enhance Chill Beverages’ market presence and drive future growth, leveraging MIC’s robust investment capabilities and industry expertise.
MIC and Admaius Capital Partners, together the (Alterra Consortium), acquired a majority stake in Chill Beverages (Chill) from Old Mutual Private Equity.
Thes acquisition marks the first investment by Alterra’s Africa Accelerator Fund (AAA Fund) and demonstrates the Alterra Consortium’s commitment to support African companies in their growth journeys.
Chill is one of the most exciting beverage platforms in South Africa and operates in the fastest growing beverage segments through its range of Score energy drinks, Fitch & Leedes premium mixers and Chateau Del Rei sparkling wine. Chill has market leading offerings, a national footprint, and world class production facilities. Led by an experienced management team, the business has delivered historic growth in excess of 20% per annum.
The company has manufacturing facilities in Gauteng and the Western Cape with significant production capacity. 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.
The Alterra Consortium will work closely with the Chill management team to drive transformation at the company, including developing a diverse bench of talent throughout the organisation, ensuring diverse representation at the Board and Executive Management as well as supporting black and female owned enterprises across its supply chain.
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 Chief Executive Officer, 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 and advisors on the transaction included Webber Wentzel, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyer 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.
