Coast2Coast’s Ascendis Health on the acquisition trail
The Cape based private equity company acquires Efekto and Sportron for R260m.
Released to the financial press on October 19, 2011
Ascendis Health (Pty) Limited, the wholly owned health and lifestyle subsidiary of Coast2Coast Investments, today made an announcement that it had, along with existing management, acquired the Efekto business. The Landbank and Vantage Risk Capital, the BEE mezzanine financiers, provided part of the funding for the transaction.
The Efekto acquisition follows Ascendis Health’s recent acquisition of Sportron, the direct selling nutraceutical and beauty products business.
Ascendis Health is a significant player in the health and lifestyle sector with the following well known consumer brands in its portfolio; Efekto, Wonder, Natura, Sportron, Foodstate, Bioter Health and FitFlop.
The Efekto acquisition is Ascendis Health’s first foray into the home and garden category. To execute this transaction Ascendis partnered with the existing Efekto management team, some of whom have been in the business close on 30 years, with the long term aim of improving strategic, operational and leadership capacity.
Dr. Karsten Wellner, CEO of Ascendis Health, believes the existing Efekto and Wonder brand product portfolio offers huge scope for growth, ‘We have identified the home and garden sector as being fundamental to our future growth at Ascendis. Part of our strategy is to create vertical integration into the “best of breed” players within this sector via joint ventures and acquisitions. Efekto’s established history, product innovation, extensive product lines and excellent retail footprint meant they fitted our investment criteria in every sense. We are actively seeking further acquisition opportunities in the health and beauty sectors’.
Continual research and product development has been the cornerstone of the Efekto and Wonder brands and this is set to continue, ‘Efekto is poised to launch innovative new products, including solar powered gardening products, into the market shortly, ensuring the brand continues to grow its market share’ added Wellner.
Efekto is Vantage Risk Capital’s seventh mezzanine investment and the first one to be partnered with Coast2Coast. Vantage’s Managing Partner, Luc Albinski commented, ‘We are delighted to be partnering with a dynamic investment group like Coast2Coast. Efekto is a market-leading business with confident and clear growth plans. Efekto’s ambitions to expand into African markets such as Zambia and Ghana are of great interest to us as we expand our own African footprint’.
About Coast2Coast
Established in 2005, Coast2Coast is a South African based private equity company, which is managed by its two owners, CEO Gary Shayne and COO Cris Dillon. It invests in mature defensible businesses and strong brands, which operate in well-established markets. The company currently concentrates on businesses in the consumer products sector (being foods, personal care, health and homecare products).
Coast2Coast’s unique business model sees it selecting businesses with complementary offerings with a view to creating clusters of companies with operational and financial synergies. It has invested in over ten companies to date and plans to acquire two to three further companies annually.
Visit: www.coast2coast.co.za
About Ascendis
Ascendis Health is Coast2Coast’s health and beauty company, holding the following health and beauty subsidiary companies, some of which have been in operation for over 25 years:
- Comed Health
- Reviva Technology
- Efekto Care
- Sportron International
- Regal Nutrients
Ascendis Health has a staff complement of approximately 300 employees and is headed by Dr Karsten Wellner (CEO). Karsten and his executive team have extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and consumer products (FMCG) industries.
About Vantage
Vantage Capital Group is a black-owned group with assets under management of over R2 billion. Vantage manages three funds on behalf of its investors, which include some of South Africa’s largest pension funds and development finance institutions. These funds are: Vantage Technology Fund, Vantage Mezzanine Fund and Vantage Mezzanine Fund II. The mezzanine funds focus on providing risk capital to African companies that complement the senior debt provided by the banks. Vantage’s funding supports the expansion of mid-market companies, black empowerment investments and management buy-outs.
Visit: www.vantagemezzanine.com
Released by Hayley Upson Communications:
Office Tel: 021 4246758