Vantage Capital, one of Africa's leading mezzanine debt fund managers, recently took a $25 million equity stake in Aquasantec International. The company manufactures and distributes drinking water systems in East Africa.
Aquasantec International has just been recapitalised. The financing comes from Vantage Capital. The mezzanine debt manager is taking a majority stake of $25 million in the Kenyan company, which has been manufacturing and distributing drinking water systems in East Africa for over 30 years. This includes water tanks, pipes and related products. “The Shah founding family, Ramco Group (a diversified conglomerate in Kenya) and Terra Mauricia (a listed conglomerate in Mauritius) disposed of their interests in the group as part of the transaction,” explains Vantage Capital.
Caroma Consulting acted as financial advisor to the transaction and Coulson Harney and Werkmans acted as legal advisor to Vantage and management. Other advisors to the transaction were Ernst and Young, Webber Wentzel and IBIS Consulting.
Improving drinking water and sanitation services
According to the mezzanine debt manager based in Johannesburg, South Africa, the aim of acquiring a stake in Aquasantec International is to help improve water security and access to sanitation in the East African sub-region, which is characterised by water scarcity. This is due to its arid and semi-arid climate, exacerbated by climate change.
In Kenya, for example, at least 30% of the population still lacks a reliable source of drinking water, according to official figures for 2021. When it comes to sanitation, Kenya is one of the 26 countries responsible for 90% of open defecation worldwide, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). For the record, in this country in the Horn of Africa, Aquasantec International uses the ‘Kentank’ brand of tanks, which has also been ranked as the top brand in its category by Superbrand (the world’s leading independent arbiter of brand image) on several occasions over the past decade.
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As well as installations for storing, transporting and distributing drinking water, Aquasantec International also supplies septic tanks, grain silos (tanks) and pallets for safely unloading grain silos. The Kenyan company has a moulding capacity of over 12,000 tonnes a year and an extrusion capacity of over 15,000 tonnes a year.
Inès Magoum
