SOUTH AFRICA – Private equity specialist RMB Corvest has teamed up with Masimong Beverages Holdings to acquire Halewood International SA, a well-established South African artisanal drinks manufacturer.

Masimong Beverages Holdings is jointly owned by Masimong Group Holdings (Pty) Limited controlled by Mr Mike Teke, Sabvest Capital led by Chris Seabrooke, and RMB Family Office Group Solutions.

Halewood was established in 1999 and has since become a fixture in South Africa’s spirits industry.

The business currently manufacturers, imports and distributes a wide range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, including mixed drinks “RTD’s” like Red Square Vodka and spirits including Belgravia Gin.

The manufacturing operations are supported by three depots (Durban, Cape Town and Ladysmith) with an additional eight outsourced depots across the country, enabling national distribution.

“Halewood has an exceptionally experienced management team. This, coupled with the company’s strong revenue growth, and potential for future growth along with new product lines, makes Halewood a perfect fit regarding our investment criteria,” said RMB Corvest executive, Brendan Wiebols.

RMB Corvest is an experienced specialist PE partner, favouring long-term partnerships that support continued growth for their investments.

Menzi Khoza, executive RMB Corvest highlighted, “Our interest lies in forming enduring collaborations that yield maximum returns for all parties involved.

“This allows for solid steady growth within the business. We offer both strategic and financial support to skilful management teams and leave it to them to run their own businesses.”

Presence of the new partners will support Halewood International’s commitment to grow its business by extending its product offerings in pursuit of consumer satisfaction.

The company recently invested capital in automation of its manufacturing processes, which will allow for increased production level.

“Our priority was for us to find like-minded investment partners and we found that with RMB Corvest and the Masimong Beverages team.

“With an experienced management team, in addition to existing relationships with multiple major players across the FMCG sectors – this promises to be an exceptionally rewarding investment,” said Johan Oosthuizen, Managing Director: Halewood.

Acquisition of stake in the drinks maker expands RMB Corvest’s investment portfolio focused on beverage sector.

In 2020, the investor acquired equity interest in South Africa’s fast-growing energy drinks business, Switch with supplementary products such as energy bars and syrups.

The business is headquartered in Woodmead, Johannesburg, with warehousing and contract packing undertaken in Heidelberg.

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