Phatisa, through Phatisa Food Fund 2, Masimong through Masimong Chemicals and Sabvest through Sabvest Finance and Guarantee Corporation have agreed to sell their collective 100% interest in Rolfes Holdings, a South African based food ingredients and diversified chemicals provider to Solevo. a pan-African speciality chemicals distributor. 

Solevo has also agreed to sell a 12.5% interest in Rolfes to Afropulse Group, a long-term capital investor that is wholly owned by black women, entering a partnership that will continue to grow the business. 

The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Solevo’s acquisition of Rolfes allows the company to enter new markets in sub-Saharan Africa by leveraging Rolfes’ customer base and product offering. 

The combination of Rolfes and Solevo is going to strengthen both firms’ competitive position in Africa enabling them to build a complementary and sizeable geographical presence, a complementary product and principal portfolio, and commercial acumen. 

Joris Coppye, CEO of Solevo, said: “We are pleased to have acquired Rolfes Group, which marks an important milestone in Solevo’s evolution. Together, we can build a diversified business that better serves customers across Africa and cements our market share position in key geographies – including South Africa.” 

“As an established industry leader, we have the right blend of experience, ability and vision to capitalise on this acquisitive growth by expanding reach and providing customers across the continent with the most extensive range of high-quality specialty chemicals and value added solutions. We are poised for this exciting next stage of Solevo’s growth journey.”

Founded in 1938, Rolfes has grown and expanded its portfolio across five end markets, which include:

• Agricultural crop inputs – Rolfes Agri which develops, manufactures and distributes products for general plant, root and soil health including defence against prolonged conditions
• Food ingredients – Bragan Ingredients which is the market leader in the food and beverage ingredients sector importing and distributing food additives and ingredients used in the food and beverage industry 
• Industrial chemicals – Rolfes Chemicals which is a diversified, leading provider of solvents and chemicals to a client base across a range of sectors in SA
• Leather tannery inputs – Rolfes Leather which provides leather and tanning chemicals as well as technical solutions supplied to the tanning industry
• Water treatment – Rolfes Water offers a wide range of water treatment solutions that can be tailor made to suit any industrial application including cooling water treatment

Phatisa, alongside Masimong and Sabvest, delisted Rolfes from the JSE in 2020, enabling management to focus on private equity aligned growth targets. During their ownership period, the shareholders worked closely with Rolfes’ management to support its response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the market disruptions that ensued, whilst reinvesting in the business to improve its market penetration and distribution capabilities, streamlining operations and enhancing market responsiveness. 

They have now successfully grown the business and expanded it into new markets positioning it well for continued future growth. 

The company has a strong multi-regional presence servicing over 3 400 active customers across Africa, eastern and western Europe.

Rinolan Moodley, Senior Partner at Phatisa said: “Delisting Rolfes from the JSE has allowed the business to focus on operational excellence, becoming more agile in realising both organic and inorganic strategic initiatives. Over the past four years, Rolfes has delivered consistent revenue and market share growth and we are proud that our collective efforts with management and our fellow shareholders has resulted in a leading diversified chemicals group, well recognised by Solevo. This transaction allows Rolfes to become part of a wider African business and we wish both parties continued success.”

Richard Buttle, Chief Executive Officer of Rolfes, added: “Despite the Covid-19 pandemic occurring just one month after we delisted Rolfes from the JSE, we have achieved our goals of improving and growing our business. We are thankful to our Shareholders and Board for their guidance but importantly we could not have achieved this without the support of our staff, customers and suppliers. We are excited about the future, being part of Solevo, and look forward to the next chapter for Rolfes.” 

The transaction has received all regulatory approvals.

Rand Merchant Bank (a division of FirstRand Bank) served as financial adviser and DLA Piper Advisory Services acted as legal adviser to the Selling Shareholders and Rolfes. Birkett Stewart McHendrie  served as financial adviser and Bowmans acted as the legal adviser to Solevo.