South Africa’s Nicky & Oppenheimer family, Africa’s third richest billionaires, have through one of their investment vehicles, Oppenheimer Partners, made a majority acquisition of Uganda’s Hariss International, makers of the famous Riham brands.
Details of the deal are still under wraps but some sources say, Oppenheimer Partners acquired up to 75% shareholding in the Kawempe-based company, at an undisclosed fee.
But according to a statement on the Oppenheimer Partners website, the acquisition is part of their FMCG investment strategy, arguing that FMCGs stood to benefit from the changing socio-economic, demographic and growth dynamics across Africa.
“We, as majority shareholders, have partnered with the founder of the business who will remain committed and invested alongside Oppenheimer Partners,” Oppenheimer Partners said on their website.
“Oppenheimer Partners will utilize its extensive experience and knowledge of global and African markets as well as expansive network and expertise to pursue growth opportunities in such a way as to make a real and permanent contribution to the well-being of the local communities throughout Uganda,” the company further said.
Hariss International boasts a comprehensive portfolio of differentiated soft drink brands selling more than 120 million litres per annum, with a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and central distribution warehouse of approximately 45,000m2. The company also has a deep distribution network with the ability to reach informal networks including more than 4,500 branded fridges across the country and employs more than 1,300 staff.
It was founded in 2005 by three Middle-Easters brothers, Yasser. K. Ahmad, Chadi. K. Ahmad, and Izzat. K. Ahmad. Trading under the brand name, Riham, the trio have shaped the business into one of the big players in the foods and beverages business, playing majorly in the carbonated soft drinks, natural mineral water, juices, malt & energy drinks and biscuits categories.
Yasser has been the Chairman and Chief Executive, while Chad has been the Sales and Marketing Director and Izzat a Board Director. Working together, the brothers have aggressively pushed Riham into the No.3 position in the non-alcoholic drinks category where Crown Beverages Limited, the franchisee bottlers of PepsiCo International and Coca-Cola Beverages Uganda, are neck to neck for the No.1 position.
Oppenheimer Partners was on the other hand founded by Jonathan Oppenheimer (son of Nicky Oppenheimer) and two other partners in 2016. It is a member of the Oppenheimer Generations, a combination of global profit and not-for-profit interests of the Nicky & Jonathan Oppenheimer Family.
Nicky Oppenheimer, the heir to the DeBeers diamond fortune, sold his 40% of the firm to mining group Anglo American for $5.1 billion in cash in 2012. According to the August 2022 Forbes Africa List of Billionaires, Nicky & Oppenheimer & Family, was said to be worth a cool USD8.4 billion this August 2022, earning themselves the 3rd slot on Africa’s Billionaire List. They are also rated No. 241 globally.
Oppenheimer Partners describes itself on its website, as a global investment business with international expertise and extensive reach and experience.
What does the deal mean for Uganda’s non-alcoholic drinks sector?
Letters to My Younger Self: Robinah Siima — “Success Is Quieter, But Richer”The acquisition is just-in-time as the Oppenheimers do not only bring with them deep pockets, but experienced hotshot executives to run it as well and Hariss needs both.
Hariss has over the last 10 years mounted a vigorous guerrilla-like market strategy, ruffling the market and putting both Coca-Cola and Pepsi on tenterhooks and in the process carving out a hundred of billion shillings in turnover, in a previously duopolistic market. But with the two majors returning the fizzy fire, the last 3 years have seen Hariss’ growth curve tamed. According to figures available to CEO East Africa Magazine, sales turnover for 2019 was UGXGX271.1 billion, slightly reducing to UGX269.5 billion in 2020, only to improve slightly to UGX279 billion in 2021.
Jonathan who is both the Chairman of Oppenheimer Generations and Oppenheimer Partners is an experienced and well-read businessman. He began his career at NM Rothschild & Sons, before moving to Anglo-American and subsequently De Beers, where he held several senior management roles in Southern Africa and London over two decades. He quit De Beers when his family divested its 40% stock.
He went to the Harrow School in London and the University of Oxford where he studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics.
Jonathan has attracted other qualified experts such as Jacob Hinson, a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Accountant, whose background includes time at Actis, a firm specializing in emerging markets, which includes South Africa, West Africa, Brazil and China.
He also served as Chief Investment Officer at Kagiso Tiso Holdings (KTH) where he was responsible for managing the investment strategy, team, and portfolio and was part of KTH’s transition into a fully-fledged pan-African investment holding company. Under his leadership, the team invested over $300m in major landmark acquisitions across the continent and managed over 25 disposals.
Scott Brodsky, another of Oppenheimer Partners’ founding partners possesses extensive legal experience coupled with broad knowledge in both corporate and commercial matters.
Based in Johannesburg since 2007, Scott was previously a partner in the commercial department, co-head of the Africa practice and head of the Johannesburg office at Macfarlanes LLP. He has worked with investors, financial institutions, governments and other parties on transactions across Africa; Asia; the Indian sub-continent; the UK; and throughout Europe. Scott holds a MA, Law degree from the University of Cambridge.
Jonathan, Jacob and Scott will be assisted by several investment experts. However, we do understand, the Hariss portfolio has been put under the direct watch of two ladies- Zelda Denny and Modise Madondo.
Zelda has been involved in FMCG and healthcare across the African continent and has a rich M&A advisory and equity capital markets experience, having spent 13 years in investment banking at Standard Bank, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.
Modise is also an Investment Professional with rich experience in business investment analysis, transaction execution, post-investment value management and disposals of investment companies. Her career has included being part of an investment team at Kagiso Tiso Holdings; the Private Equity division at Actis and Deutsche Bank in a corporate finance advisory role. She has been involved in portfolio management, and new deal originations and served on the board of Alexander Forbes including its Audit, Remuneration, Social, Ethics and Transformation committees. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a BCom in Accounting and Economics as well as a PGDA from the University of Cape Town.
