The Rohatyn Group has announced that it will be acquiring South Africa's Ethos Private Equity in order to help the US investment firm expand its presence on the continent.
The Rohatyn Group has announced that it will be acquiring South Africa's Ethos Private Equity in order to help the US investment firm expand its presence on the continent.
The acquisition will help the New York-based company create a firm with close to $8 billion of assets under management, Stuart MacKenzie, chief executive officer at Ethos, said in an interview. Brait Plc, backed by South African tycoon Christo Wiese, in 2019 hired Ethos to manage its portfolio including UK apparel chain New Look and Virgin Active gyms. MacKenzie didn’t disclose financial details of the acquisition.
The deal will allow Ethos to act as the African arm for the Rohatyn group, according to MacKenzie. The group plans to raise private equity and credit funds, and potentially forestry, agricultural and infrastructure funds that will include investments in renewable energy assets on the continent.
Africa needs a lot of money to finance its infrastructure projects. According to McKinsey & Co., there are about $2.5 trillion worth of public works in the pipeline on the continent, but many of them won’t be completed because of lack of funding and other constraints. That’s where companies like Rohatyn can help.
Rohatyn's purchase of a stake in the company will give it access to one of the world's fastest-growing regions, said Nicolas Rohatyn, who founded the company in 2002.
Ethos, with offices in South Africa, Kenya and London, will continue to manage Brait's portfolio after Brait's cession of their advisory agreement to the Rohatyn group.
Brait shares were mostly unchanged in Johannesburg on Monday, with the company being valued at 6 billion rand ($345 million). The Rohatyn and Ethos deal is still pending regulatory approvals.
In 2020, buyout firm Ethos took over the management of Ninety One Plc's Africa private equity funds. These funds have assets in North, East and Southern Africa.
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