Score Energy and Fitch & Leedes get a new owner

The Competition Commission has approved the sale of Chill Beverages and Inhle Beverages to Main Street 2019, a consortium of investors that includes the Mineworkers Investment Company. 

Chill Beverages and Inhle were placed into a holding company, Bev Hold Co 2, by Old Mutual Private Equity following its purchase of the Long4Life fund in 2022 for R4.2 billion. 

Long4Life owned several well-known brands, such as Sorbet, Fitch & Leedes, and Sportsman’s Warehouse. 

It was founded as an investment vehicle by Bidvest founder Brian Joffe and listed on the JSE. Focussed on lifestyle investments, the company was initially valued at R2 billion. 

When the acquisition was first concluded, Old Mutual outlined its intention to delist Long4Life and unbundle the three underlying businesses – Holdsport, Chill & Inhle Beverages, and the Personal Care and Wellness segment. 

As a way to return cash to shareholders after increasing the value of the business, Old Mutual Private Equity created Bev Hold Co 2 to sell the beverage assets it had bought. 

This resulted in the proposed sale of the two beverage companies, Chill and Inhle, to a consortium of investors referred to as Main Street 2019. 

Main Street is not controlled by any single shareholder, nor does it control any firm, the Competition Commission said. It was created purely to acquire these assets. 

The shareholders of Main Street are Alterra SPV, the Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC), Admaius Capital Partners and a trust.

Alterra was founded in 2020 by former members of global private equity investor Carlyle and is based in Johannesburg.

Admaius is a private equity firm focused on African investments in digital infrastructure, financial services, FMCG, healthcare, and education. 

The MIC is the black-owned investment arm of the Mineworkers Investment Trust, which was established in 1995 to benefit members of the National Union of Mineworkers. 

It also has interests in companies including casino and hotel operators Peermont, FirstRand, and Primedia. 

The Commission has approved the proposed transaction under conditions in which Main Street intends to acquire Bev Hold Co 2.

Chill Beverages produces its own alcoholic and non-alcoholic branded beverages, including Chateau del Rei, Score Energy, Fitch & Leeds, and Bashew’s. 

The company also has a contract-packing business which offers third-party contract bottling and canning facilities. 

Inhle is a separate contract-packing business that specialises in the canning and bottling of carbonated soft drinks, natural water energy drinks, and alcoholic beverages.

The Commission is of the view that the proposed transaction is unlikely to lessen or prevent competition in any market substantially.

To address public interest concerns, the commission said the new entity shall not retrench employees of Chill and Inhle for a period of 36 months following the merger approval date.

In addition, Main Street has made a financial commitment towards the development of the Target Firm.