Amethis Finance and Metier partner to acquire a significant minority stake in Kenafric Industries Limited, the East African leader in the confectionery sector.
Amethis Finance and Metier are pleased to announce their partnership with Kenafric Industries (“Kenafric”), in the acquisition of a significant minority stake in their packaged food business.
The Kenafric Group was founded in 1987 by Velji Punja Shah and his four sons. The Group has grown to emerge as a major FMCG group in East Africa, having diversified into confectionery, footwear, culinary and stationery manufacturing. This transaction is limited to the confectionery and culinary business and the Shah family will continue to operate the footwear and stationery business separately. Amethis has a long-standing relationship with the Shah Family and the transaction developed as a result of this relationship.
Kenafric enjoys a leading position in the packaged food sector, being one of the best known local FMCG brands in East Africa. Kenafric is engaged in the manufacture, branding and distribution of confectionery, snacks, ready-to-drink juices and culinary spices products. The company is unique in the packaged food sector in East Africa, having built strong entry barriers based on: (1) a capillary distribution network, (2) strong premium brands and (3) a pan-African regional footprint. Kenafric sells around 45% of its production outside Kenya.
“Having built a trustworthy relationship with Kenafric’s management over the past years, we are excited about this partnership which will allow Kenafric to leverage on its strong existing base to expand into a diversified packaged food platform in East Africa. Thanks to this partnership, Kenafric is now poised to engage into a new phase of its history” said Jean-Sebastien Bergasse, the Amethis Partner in charge of the project.
For Metier, a proven leader in Southern African Private Equity, this marks its first investment in Kenya. Metier enjoys a long and successful track-record in private equity investing in Southern Africa and has already realized and successfully exited similar transactions in the packaged food industry.
“We are excited about the partnership with Amethis and Metier. Through this investment, we will seek to leverage the deep relationships that they enjoy in the region, operational support and a strong capital base to accelerate future growth’”, commented Bharat Shah, Chairman at Kenafric.
BellHouse Capital, Pratul Shah and Bowmans Law acted as the Company’s transaction advisers while Anjarwala & Khanna and KPMG represented the investors.
