News

Standard Chartered Private Equity has sold its stake in a Botswana retail and consumer goods company Kamoso Distribution to a consortium led by Investec Asset Management Private Equity, RMB Ventures, local partners and senior management.

Kamoso was mostly a supplier to Botswana’s largest budget retail chain, Choppies Enterprises, before StanChart PE and New York investment firm Development Capital Partners (DCP) bought a 72 percent stake in 2015 and expanded operations.

Both Stanchart PE and DCP have now sold their shareholdings, Investec Asset Management and RMB Ventures said in a statement on Monday.

“Over the last few years, Kamoso has expanded from its roots in Botswana to supply retailers across Southern Africa,” the companies said.

“The company has also invested heavily in new capital equipment to expand its consumer product offerings, which range from paper products to pharmaceuticals, and from bottled water to milled grains as well as imported consumer brands,” Investec Asset Management and RMB Ventures added.

Stanchart PE and DCP bought the stake in Kamoso in a deal that was reported to be worth 452 million pula ($43.35 million)from Choppies’ biggest shareholders, Ramachandran Ottapathu and Farouk Ismail.

Ottapathu, who is the CEO of Choppies, told Reuters on Oct. 9, that Stanchart PE still held a 13 percent shareholding in Choppies, which was bought at a price reported to be around $60 million in 2014.

“Stanchart PE still hold the stake although they have brought in new partners to the Special Purpose vehicle holding the shareholding,” Ottapathu said.