RMB Corvest has picked up a 28% stake in South Africa-based automotive services holding company Autovest, in a secondary buyout deal from Nedbank Capital Private Equity. The deal value has not been disclosed.
RMB Corvest is backing the company to support further expansion, which is expected to primarily be through the purchase of other businesses. Nedbank created Autovest as an acquisition platform for automotive companies, and is now made up of six businesses. RMB Corvest’s executives Martin Coetzee and Genevieve Alberts will join the Autovest board.
“We fully support Autovest’s expansion strategy in the automotive sector, and therefore believe that our decision to invest in the company is going to be a positive one,” said Alberts.
Autovest was created by Nedbank in 2007 . The first company to be rolled into the Autovest holding was Maxe Stainless Steel, a portfolio company Nedbank acquired in 2005 alongside Collins Private Equity. Imbewu Capital Partners joined the investors in 2008 when it acquired 17.4% of Autovest. Nedbank is exiting Autovest as the holding has reached its targeted tenor.
Headquartered in Durban, Autovest supplies automotive accessories through 130 franchised fitment centres and a number of dealerships. In addition to Maxe, which is a manufacturer of stainless steel auto accessories, Autovest also holds SA Canopy Centre, a producer of vehicle canopies.
Kilber Products, a company that specialises in exhaust systems for heavy duty vehicles, StarTrek, a towbars fabricator and Bucco a canopies maker also make up Autovest. Rhino Linings, a company that produces a chemical compound used to spray the load beds of light commercial vehicles, is also part of the group.
Article by Hamza Ali, reporter, Private Equity Africa
