Old Mutual Private Equity (OMPE) has sold its stake in Chill & Inhle Beverages, the owners of well-known brands such as Fitch & Leeds and Score energy drinks, to a private equity consortium led by Alterra Capital Partners. The transaction closed on 14 October 2024.

The transaction follows Old Mutual Private Equity’s delisting of Chill & Inhle Beverages as part of Long4Life Limited from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in June 2022 and marks the most significant exit to date in Old Mutual Private Equity Fund V, following the Fund’s previous exits of Sorbet (sold to South African listed retailer Clicks Group Limited), LimeLight and Clayton Care in its Personal Care & Wellness cluster.

Chumani Kula, Co-Head of OMPE said: “The vision we shared in our partnership with the Company’s management team has led to an extraordinary blend of growth and transformation for the business, culminating in great success.

Given our heritage of investing in privately-owned businesses in South Africa for more than two decades, this exit reaffirms our expertise as Old Mutual Private Equity of investing alongside strong and aligned management teams in high quality businesses in order to inspire an ownership and growth mindset.”

Under OMPE’s stewardship, Chill & Inhle Beverages became a fully-integrated beverages platform, offering a strong own-brand portfolio with growing market share in a fast-growing sub-segment of the beverages market in South Africa, while using excess capacity to co-pack for other multinational companies in the energy drinks and alcoholic beverages industry. The Company enjoyed significant growth, more than doubling since OMPE’s acquisition.

Jacci Myburgh, Co-Head of OMPE said: “We have been privileged to play a key role, alongside management in the company’s overall growth, not only in the integration of the business for greater efficiency but also in terms of geographic expansion within South Africa.”

John Steyn, CEO of Chill & Inhle Beverages said: “One of the benefits of working with OMPE is the nimble, quick-moving style the team has. They have an ability to listen, make sense of things, and make decisions.”

With growth comes impact in the community. The Company sponsors more than 1,200 grassroots soccer clubs that play in the sand pitches in townships across South Africa.

As a firm, we are proud and privileged to have achieved such exciting growth and a strong exit for our OMPE Fund V investors, whilst working alongside a world-class management team.

We believe that Chill & Inhle Beverages is well positioned for the future. We wish the management team and the new shareholders the very best for the next chapter.

Well done to the OMPE deal team for their dedication in getting this transaction across the line.

For any queries, feel free to contact Ria Papier, Client Director of OMPE rpapier@oldmutualalternatives.com, +27 83 269 4880