Vantage Capital invests €30m in Promamec

Vantage Capital (http://www.VantageCapital.co.za), Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, announced today that it closed a €30 million equity investment for the acquisition of a significant minority stake in Promamec, a Moroccan medical distribution business. The funds invested by Vantage Capital facilitated the exit of the private equity fund AfricInvest and will also serve to part-fund Promamec’s next phase of development.

Promamec was founded in the early 1980s by the Lahlou family. The company is one of the leading medical consumables and equipment distributors in Morocco and is also among the few players engaged in local production of medical consumables – an activity that the company aims to sizably develop over the next few years.

This investment will enable Promamec to finance its development plan that involves building a new production plant, broadening its portfolio by launching new product categories, and strengthening its positioning in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr. Naoufal Lahlou, CEO of Promamec, commented “We are delighted to welcome into our shareholding Vantage Capital, a leading pan-African investment firm. With Vantage Capital’s support, we aim to execute our ambitious growth plan, which consists of diversifying our current product range, increasing our production capacity and, above all, expanding our geographical presence in sub-Saharan Africa. Since our very first discussions, Vantage Capital has demonstrated its total alignment with our vision.”

Mr. Luc Albinski, Executive Chairman at Vantage Capital, added, “We are proud to have concluded our third Moroccan deal. This deal also marks our second investment in Morocco’s buoyant healthcare sector, which is undergoing massive development thanks to both public and private investments. We are very enthusiastic about accompanying Promamec in achieving its ambitions and contributing to the improvement of healthcare in the Kingdom.”

Mr. Driss Benabdeslam, Associate Partner at Vantage Capital, concluded, “We are very happy about this investment in one the Kingdom’s main medical suppliers. It is great to know that our funds and strategic support will be dedicated to a company operating in such a key sector. We are also pleased to partner with a highly seasoned and committed team, with whom we look forward to taking Promamec to the next level. We would like to thank the Lahlou family for their trust and willingness to welcome us as new shareholders.”

This transaction represents Vantage Capital’s 35^th investment across four generations of mezzanine debt funds with its portfolio of investments spread across eleven African countries. Promamec also marks Vantage Capital’s third investment in Morocco, thus reinforcing its presence in one of its key target markets.

Vantage Capital was advised by Derenia Capital who acted as buy-side advisor for the transaction, and by Clifford Chance (in Morocco) who acted as its legal counsel. PwC (in Morocco) and Webber Wentzel (in South Africa) provided tax advice, PwC & Deloitte (in Morocco) were the financial advisors, Strategy& (part of the PwC network in Morocco) provided commercial advice, and Ibis Consulting (in Morocco) reviewed the environmental impact.

Promamec and AfricInvest were advised by Allen & Overy (in Morocco) and Cabinet Atlassi who acted as their legal counsel and by Smyle Finance who acted as sell-side advisor. A&B Associés acted as legal counsel to the Lahlou family.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Vantage Capital Group.

For more information contact:
Luc Albinski                                                                                          
Executive Chairman                                                      
lalbinski@vantagecapital.co.za
Tel: +27 83 390 7703

Driss Benabdeslam
Associate Partner
driss@vantagemezzanine.com
Tel:  +33 7 86 67 53 98                   

About Vantage Capital:
Founded in 2001, Vantage Capital is an Africa-focused fund manager that has raised funds of over $1.6 billion.

Since 2006, Vantage Capital’s Mezzanine division has made 35 investments across four successive funds into 11 African countries, making it the largest and most experienced independent mezzanine funder on the continent. In addition, Vantage Capital’s GreenX division has made fourteen senior debt investments into South African solar and wind energy projects across two funds.

Vantage Capital targets equity and mezzanine debt opportunities of $10-50m across more than a dozen key African markets.

Mezzanine debt is an intermediate form of risk capital, which is situated between senior debt, the least risky tranche of the capital structure, and equity, the riskiest. It combines elements of both debt and equity thereby providing companies with long-term funding on terms which are less dilutive to shareholders than pure equity.

In addition to the mezzanine debt division and the renewable energy debt business, Vantage Capital recently launched an education investment platform targeting Poland, Czechia, Romania, and Portugal.

Website: www.VantageCapital.co.za

About Promamec:
Founded in 1981, Promamec is the second largest player in Morocco’s medical consumables and equipment market, and one of the pioneers in local production of consumables in the Kingdom. The company also stands as the distributor with the most diversified offering in terms of medical specialties covered.

Promamec was founded by Mr. Abdelilah Lahlou, who seized the opportunity to create a new player in the market in the context of the departure of French companies operating in the healthcare sector in the 1970s. The company started its operations in the distribution of medical consumables before expanding into the medical equipment field and gaining the trust of multiple global medical products’ manufacturers such as Baxter, Johnson & Johnson, and 3M.

In 2006, Mr. Naoufal Lahlou was appointed as CEO with the objective of further improving the company’s organization, strengthening partnerships with manufacturers, and developing exports to sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition to the distribution activity, Promamec operates a production and assembly unit located in Ain Sebaa, Casablanca, where it produces a diversified range of medical consumables such as dialysis sets, gauze bands, sheets, gowns, etc.

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