Alterra Capital Partners has partnered with Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) and Admaius Capital Partners to acquire a majority stake in Chill Beverages from Old Mutual Private Equity.
This acquisition by the Alterra Consortium marks the first investment by Alterra’s Africa Accelerator Fund (AAA Fund) and demonstrates the Fund’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, and 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, said energy drinks was the fastest growing beverage category in South Africa, and Score was a significant player in this market.
“The recent launch of Chateau Del Rei has been very successful and its potential is enormous,” Steen said.
“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.”
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.
BUSINESS REPORT