Beira, Mozambique - Global Alternative Asset Manager The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) and Investec Asset Management, a global investment manager with African roots, today announced that they have agreed to invest in J&J Africa, a pan-African logistics company specialising in the road transportation of general cargo along the Beira corridor, one of Southern Africa’s key trade routes. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.
Marlon Chigwende, Managing Director and Co-Head of the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund, said:“Carlyle brings strong expertise working with companies in the transportation sector, along with deep experience in emerging markets, including Africa. We have a particularly strong track record in partnering with private, family and entrepreneurial firms and helping them expand to compete on a world stage. By building on J&J’s current service, as well as adding new offerings, we hope to better serve current and future customers in this fast-growing region. Further, J&J is well positioned to benefit from the fast growth across Southern Africa, particularly in Mozambique and Zambia.”
William Alexander, an Investment Principal in Investec Asset Management’s Private Equity team, commented: “Over the past decade, J&J Africa has built up the pre-eminent transport fleet and logistics infrastructure in the region. We look forward to working with J&J’s highly professional management team to realise our plans to grow the business further in the coming years.”
Founded in 1995, J&J has more than 18 years’ experience in cross-border transport within Africa. From their headquarters in Mozambique, the company has established itself as a reliable and efficient provider of transport and logistics services to a diversified, international customer base. With 800 trucks and extensive storage infrastructure, J&J is well-placed to serve Southern Africa, home to some of the fastest growing economies in the world.
The investment, which was led by Carlyle, is the second investment by Carlyle’s Sub-Saharan Africa Fund, which invests in companies that support the emerging middle class across the Sub-Saharan Africa region. In November 2012, the Fund made its first investment in Export Trading Group, a global agricultural supply chain manager based in Tanzania. The investment is the seventh by Investec Asset Management’s Africa Frontier Private Equity Fund, which invests in established companies in Africa with the objective of supporting the creation of local or regional champions in their respective industries.
About J&J Africa: J&J is a transporter and logistics provider specializing in reliable and efficient international transportation along the Beira Corridor. J&J also offers state of the art warehouse facilities for the handling of bulk and container cargo. J&J is able to provide high quality logistics solutions on the Beira corridor. Through experience, development and innovation J&J strives to deliver a superior service for its clients’ needs, which include storage, transportation and the handling of bulk, containerised, project and out of gauge cargo. For more information visit: www.jjafrica.com
About The Carlyle Group: The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $185 billion of assets under management across 122 funds and 81 fund of funds vehicles as of September 30, 2013. Carlyle's purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Market Strategies and Global Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,400 people in 34 offices across six continents.
About the Carlyle Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) Team: Established in March 2012, the Carlyle SSA team makes buyout and growth capital investments in private and public companies from offices in Johannesburg, SA and Lagos, Nigeria. The Carlyle SSA team focuses on transactions where it has a distinctive competitive advantage and can create tangible value for companies in which it invests, through industry specialization, deployment of human capital and access to Carlyle’s global network. Carlyle’s target industries include consumer goods, logistics, financial services, agribusiness, and energy, and the African-based team has experience of working in 29 African countries.
About Investec Asset Management: Investec Asset Management, an independently managed subsidiary of Investec Group, is a specialist investment manager providing a premier range of investment products to institutional and individual investors. Established in 1991, the firm has been built from start-up into an international business managing approximately £69.8bn on behalf of third party clients. The business has grown organically from domestic roots in Southern Africa to a position where we serve a growing international client base from the Americas, the UK, Continental Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia and Africa. Africa remains of critical importance to us, not only due to its enormous potential, but because it is our home market. We are uniquely positioned to offer investors access to a broad range of strategies – from public equity through to credit, sovereign debt and private equity
About the Investec Asset Management Africa Private Equity Team: Investec Asset Management has over $40 billion invested in Africa across all asset classes. The Investec Africa Frontier Private Equity Fund focuses on growth capital and buyout investments in established mid-market companies in Africa, with the objective of supporting the creation of local or regional champions in their respective industries.
