Investing in visionary Entrepreneurs
Clearwater Capital has managed assets in excess of approximately R1.6bn. By partnering with strong entrepreneurs, we have achieved exceptional returns. Great leaders create strong and enduring companies. Below is a breakdown of our past and present investee companies:
Absto is a leading converter and supplier of adhesive tapes in South Africa. Clearwater acquired a 25.1% stake in the company in 2018 and partnered with the management team to develop a growth strategy. Absto was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Durban, with offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Afripack was one of South Africa’s largest packaging companies. The business had two distinctive sides, the flexibles division and sacks. Not long after investing, Constantia, the EU’s largest flexibles group, acquired the company. Clearwater Capital benefitted from significant uplift.
Averda SA (formerly Wasteman) is the second largest waste management company in South Africa, employing in excess of 2 500 staff countrywide. Offering end-to-end waste services including collections, recycling, medical waste, hazardous and non-hazardous waste disposal, landfill management amongst other specialised offerings in waste management. Averda Global came in as a majority shareholder of the business in 2015 to provide operation insight as a trade player. Averda Global is an integrated waste management company with a presence in ten countries. Clearwater’s investment in the business began in 2009 when we invested alongside the Oppenheimer family and the Fleming family (UK).
Ciba is a packaging company headquartered in Johannesburg. Ciba primarily manufactures foam trays and liners together with film wraps used in the food packaging industry. We acquired our stake in Ciba in 2010 when we co-invested with Infinitus Holdings, a Cape Town based private equity fund.
Clearwater invested into the JMH hospital group in 2015 before divesting a majority stake to the Dubai based Abraaj Group in early 2018. JMH is a black-owned private hospital group comprising 5 hospital facilities based in KwaZulu-Natal. Clearwater Capital continues to retain an interest in the group.
The Lichen Group (formerly known as Millway) was acquired (50%) by Clearwater in 2017 when we partnered with MD and founder, Dave Marock. The Somerset West based group is a supplier of specialised growing mediums into various horticultural markets and currently supplies approximately 85% of the SA mushroom industry with their growing mediums. The group also supplies the blueberry industry, nurseries, and greenhouse operations for lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers and various other fresh produce grown in controlled conditions. The Lichen Group imports approximately 1 000 shipping containers of high-end growing medium per year into SA.
Kunaal serves on the board of Lichen and plays an active role in the management of the group with a particular focus on growth opportunities. The company has experienced significant growth since our involvement which is testament to the success of the active management ethos of our fund.
Redefine is the second largest REIT listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with a market cap in excess of R50billion. Clearwater’s Redefine investment story dates back to 2004 when it invested in the initial management company called Madison. Madison eventually was merged into Redefine and Harish was appointed onto the main board of Redefine. Clearwater continued to acquire shares in Redefine over time and also held shares in Apex-Hi which merged into Redefine.
Commercial Auto Components (CAC) is a leading auto accessories supplier to the automotive sector. They are the dominant supplier to the truck market where they supply metal fabricated products such as nudge bars, stone guards and styling bars. The business has been approved to supply vehicle original equipment manufacturers with styling accessories for the light commercial vehicle market. These products include styling bars and tonneau covers while numerous other products are available to the aftermarket. Clearwater acquired a 25.1% stake in the company in early 2022.
HTSA is the South African subsidiary of Helios Towers PLC, a London listed telecom tower infrastructure company. The company has a strong presence in Africa and the Middle East with the experience and management to grow in emerging markets. The business will benefit from the increased densification and roll out of additional towers to broadcast a 5G signal as the market adopts this new technology. Clearwater along with its co-investor Mangro Holdings have taken a 34% stake in the South African entity.
Fastway Couriers is the leading economy offering, small parcel delivery operator in South Africa. The business operates a franchise model that fosters micro entrepreneurship. Fastway has a national presence and provides a market leading solution for SME’s as well as large corporates. There is significant opportunity to grow as ecommerce gains traction in South Africa and retailers look for last mile fulfilment solutions like that provided by Fastway. Clearwater has a 30% equity stake in Fastway South Africa and have partnered with City Logistics.
Gigi Investments is a diversified industrial holding company. The business primarily services the mining industry in South Africa and other key markets in sub-Saharan Africa. The subsidiaries are:
- Integrated Pump Technologies (IPT) which sells pumps for the dewatering of mines and has the exclusive rights to Grindex
- Integrated Pump Rentals (IPR) which rents pumps for the dewatering of mines
- Integrated Air Solutions (IAS) sells and rents ELGI air compressors in both mining and manufacturing
- Fogmaker SA sells and services fire suppression equipment from Sweden
- Azize has the agency for Sunward drill rigs
- Integrated Ship Handling (ISH) has the agency for Voith to sell and service tug boat propulsion systems in South Africa
- Clearwater has partnered with Amber Capital and the Gigi CEO and founder, Graham Russell, as shareholders in the business.