Duet Group and its Partners Invest US$50 Million into Two High-growth Consumer Companies in Ghana

LONDON, March 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Duet Group is pleased to announce that through the creation of Duet Consumer West Africa Holdings (DCWA), it has invested US$50m of growth capital into Ghana, taking controlling stakes into Shop N Save, a supermarket joint-venture with the founders of the Finatrade Group, and GNFoods, a fast-growing food manufacturing company. The growth capital invested into these two companies will be used to roll-out new food retail stores, expand manufacturing capacity and invest in sales and marketing capabilities.

Duet believes both the food retail and food manufacturing sectors in West Africa are well positioned for rapid growth. The food retail sector across West Africa remains one of the most under-penetrated in the world, with less than 5% of food consumed being sold through organised retail channels, and Duet believes the partnership with the founders of one of West Africa's largest food distributors will result in a market-leading regional supermarket player. In terms of food manufacturing, Duet believes that Ghana is particularly well positioned to become a food manufacturing hub for the region, as West Africans increasingly prefer home-grown affordable brands to expensive imports.

Duet Group has appointed the former Chief Strategy Officer of the H. J. Heinz Company, Daniel Milich, as non-executive Chairman of DCWA, to provide strategic insight to the companies drawing on his 15 year tenure at one of the world's leading FMCG businesses. Duet Group also has hired a former East African country-head for Coca-Cola, to act as CEO for the platform.

Henry Gabay, CEO, Duet Group: "We are very excited about the future of consumer-driven businesses in Ghana, particularly given our belief that the country is at the beginning of a multi-year economic growth phase. Following our investment in Ethiopia through Dashen Brewery, DCWA shows our belief and commitment to the FMCG sectors in Sub Saharan Africa. Duet Group invested in excess of US$1 Billion into the Sub Saharan Africa and Mena public markets over the last 4 years and the investments into Private Equity are a natural extension of our investment philosophy for the region."

Afsane Jetha, Managing Director, Duet Private Equity: "We see Ghana as an extremely promising investment destination, given the strong historical and future expected growth of the consumer sector as well as the general investor-friendly infrastructure of the country. We also see the strength of our local partners, pioneering entrepreneurs in Ghana, as key to the success of our long-term strategy."

The deal was run by Henry Gabay, Afsane Jetha, Juvaria Aumeerally, Maty Ndiaye, Alexandre Khawam and Alp Sevimlisoy. Duet was advised by Clifford Chance, Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah and PwC.

Duet Group: Duet Group is a UK-headquartered global alternative asset management firm with over US$4.7 billion of assets under management (AUM) (http://www.duetgroup.net).

Finatrade Group: The Finatrade Group is one of the largest food manufacturing and food distribution companies in West Africa, headquartered in Accra, Ghana (http://www.finatradegroup.com)

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For further information, please contact: Maty Ndiaye; mndiaye@duetgroup.net