The Carlyle Group has agreed to acquire the NOSA Group, a South African provider of occupational health and safety services, from Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed MICROmega Holdings for approximately R750m.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions.

Equity for this transaction will come from the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund; the ninth investment to be made by this dedicated fund.

Established in 2012, the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund, with $698m of committed capital, has invested and committed over $400m to date across a variety of industries, including logistics, agribusiness, mining services, retail and financial services, and across a variety of geographies, including Nigeria, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa. 

The fund makes buyout and growth capital investments in private and public companies from offices in Johannesburg, South Africa and Lagos, Nigeria.

Eric Kump, Managing Director and Head of Carlyle’s Sub-Saharan Africa Fund, said: “The acquisition of NOSA demonstrates our view that sub-Saharan Africa is an attractive investment market.” 

“We believe the occupational health and safety sector is particularly attractive across emerging markets as adoption and compliance rates align with developed countries. We look forward to using our experience in the business services sector as well as our global network to support NOSA’s strong brands to grow additional markets,” he said.

Formed in 1951 to reduce injuries and fatalities in the workplace, NOSA was acquired by MICROmega Holdings in 2005. 

Today, the company provides occupational health, safety and environmental risk management services and solutions. 

Headquartered in Johannesburg, NOSA has 50 offices across Southern Africa, China, Saudi Arabia and UAE and is the exclusive provider of both the NOSA Five Star Grading System and SAMTRAC.

Greg Morris, CEO of MICROmega, said: “NOSA has experienced strong growth over the last decade, annually educating and servicing more than 90,000 individual learners and professionals, and more than 4,000 organisations, to ensure a safe and compliant working environment in emerging markets around the world.” 

“The investment by Carlyle will support the ongoing growth of NOSA whilst allowing us to realise value for our shareholders. We are also pleased to announce our appointment of Andy Fenn as CEO-Designate for NOSA. Andy will assume the full CEO role once the transaction has been finalised and the necessary approvals have been obtained.”