Rockwood Private Equity-led consortium has entered into an agreement with Euronext-listed Wendel regarding the sale of its interest in the Tsebo Soulutions Group for an enterprise value of ZAR5.25bn ($375m).

The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2016, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.

Andrew Dewar, CEO of Rockwood, said: “We believe that Wendel will be a great partner to Tsebo and together with management will continue to grow the business.”

Tsebo is a leading Pan-African facilities services provider, employing 34,000 people across 23 countries and generating revenue of approximately ZAR6.5bn.

Founded in 1971 in Johannesburg, Tsebo has developed into a pan-African enterprise of stature, enjoying a strong presence in a wide range of local and international business sectors.

Today, the group offers contracted services in Facilities Management, Remote Camps, Catering, Cleaning, Hygiene, Security, Energy and Procurement.

Tsebo was acquired by Rockwood in 2007 in a secondary buy-out deal.

Rockwood partnered with management and facilitated the investment of two BEE partners, Nozala Investments and Lereko Investments.

“During the time that Rockwood has held Tsebo it has grown from a primarily South African company with 9000 employee’s into a Pan-African platform with over 34,000 employees. In South Africa it has improved from a Level 3 BBBEE rating to a Level 1 BBBEE rating. We are certain that these trends will accelerate into the future with Wendel as a partner and we wish them every success,” Dewar said.

Wendel is currently negotiating co-investment terms with management and prospective co-investors.

In South Africa, the future ownership structure will include a B-BBEE2 consortium that will partner with Wendel and maintain Tsebo’s Level 1 B-BBEE status on the amended codes.

According to Frédéric Lemoine, Chairman of Wendel’s Executive Board, Tsebo responds to the growing need of African companies and Africa-based international companies to outsource non-core – yet essential – activities outside of their expertise, in order to focus on their core business.

“Tsebo is a ‘homegrown’ African success story with 45 years of African operating experience, delivering international quality standards to a diversified client base, in over 20 countries. We very much look forward to working with Clive Smith and his teams to continue growing Tsebo across Africa and over the long term,” he said.

“This company is perfectly in line with Wendel’s strategy in Africa, where we have now invested over one billion euros, demonstrating our continued commitment to the continent since Wendel Africa was established in 2013. Tsebo, a company developing from South Africa across the rest of the continent, complements very well IHS, Saham and SGI Africa which are positioned on different sectors and different country mixes,” he said.

Clive Smith, CEO of Tsebo, added: “Tsebo, with Rockwood, Nozala and Lereko support, has built a proud history of supporting its clients through the unique combination of delivering global standards with a deep African expertise. We thank the team at Rockwood for all their support over the years to build Tsebo into the company it is today.”

“We are delighted to be able to partner with Wendel, as they bring a true global capacity while at the same time allowing Tsebo to maintain the entrepreneurial culture which enables us to exceed our customer’s expectations.”

Deutsche Bank acted as financial adviser and Bowmans as legal adviser to Tsebo and Rockwood regarding the sale.