MEA – Gulf Capital, an investment firm with experience in Growth Markets across Private Equity, Private Debt, Growth Capital, and Real Estate, has completed the sale of 100% of AmCan.
AmCan, a conglomerate engaged in several enterprises spanning from retail commerce to product distribution within the MENA region, has been bought by FMCG distributors operating across the Middle East and Africa.
Gulf Capital invested in AmCan in 2016 from its third buyout fund, GC Equity Partners III, to gain exposure to the fast-growing wellness and sports and nutrition supplements market in the GCC.
During Gulf Capital’s ownership, AmCan grew its revenues and gross margin by more than 50%.
To achieve these strong results, AmCan expanded geographically by leveraging its exclusive regional agencies, deepened its market reach by investing in operating processes and tools and strengthened its distribution model with optimized working capital and enhanced trading terms.
“As a thematic investor, our investment in Amcan was underpinned by the secular trends and shifts in consumer behavior that continue to fuel the growth of the health and wellness sector across the Middle East,” Dr. Karim El Solh, Co-Founder and CEO of Gulf Capital, said.
“The disciplined execution of our value creation plan by AmCan’s management team and Gulf Capital’s operating partners have allowed AmCan to cement and expand its market-leading position in the region with continued improvement of its operating metrics and overall profitability.”
Moreover, AmCan capitalized on its superior knowledge and understanding of its customers’ behaviours to introduce new brands and products that are witnessing exponential sales growth.
This remarkable performance is a strong testament to the operational improvement capabilities at Gulf Capital and its deep bench of operating partners and industry advisors.
“We are very proud of the remarkable growth of AmCan during Gulf Capital’s ownership period and of the strong returns we have delivered to our Third Buyout Fund investors,” Dr. Karim added.
“This control growth buyout with a deep focus on operational improvement and earnings’ growth, followed by a highly successful sale to a regional strategic buyer, is a great illustration of Gulf Capital’s unique investment strategy in our high growth region.”
Mohammad Madani, Managing Director at Gulf Capital, commented that the AmCan investment is another great example of Gulf Capital’s strategy of acquiring controlling stakes in a market leader in a high growth sector, expanding the business into new geographies, enlarging product offering, and growing EBITDA through operational improvements.
“We are thrilled with the successful closing of this sale to a regional strategic buyer, as we believe AmCan will find in its new owner the financial support, operational expertise, and depth of network that will take it to new heights,” he said.
“We would like to thank our esteemed partner over the years, Firas Odeh, AmCan’s Founder and CEO, AmCan’s management team, and the new owner for their efforts in successfully closing this transaction, and we wish them all the best on their next chapter of growth.”
Gulf Capital was advised by Global Gate Capital, Eversheds Sutherland and PwC on this strategic sale. The buyer was advised by Nucleus Consulting and Ashurst.
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