Long4Life shareholders holding 89.9 percent of its shares have voted in a meeting to approve its acquisition by Old Mutual Private Equity (OMPE), a division of Old Mutual Alternative Investments, and for the de-listing of the company.
The deal, valued at R4.2 billion, will be financed through a combination of debt and equity, Old Mutual Private Equity Co-Head Chumani Kula said on Monday.
For OMPE’s Fund V, the transaction was an opportunity to acquire three businesses in one transaction, he said.
The intention was to delist Long4Life, unbundle the three underlying business segments: Holdsport, Chill & Inhle Beverages and the Personal Care & Wellness segment into OMPE Fund V, to be managed as separate businesses with their own management teams.
“Our offer was also compelling to underlying management, as it enables the underlying teams to invest alongside us directly in their own businesses and therefore be more in control of their own destiny,” he said.
The OMPE team would partner with the management teams on a vision and strategy, as well as provide capital, perspective, stewardship and ESG disciplines, he said.
“We believe that the transaction will provide our investors with attractive returns,” Kula said.
“As OMPE, we have been around for more than two decades and we were able to bring our extensive experience to bear in executing swiftly on a transaction that had its share of complexities, as they always do,” he said.
OMPE has deployed nearly R9.9 billion across 31 transactions since 2000, and has realised nearly R16bn across 19 exits.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE