2023 Awards | DealMakersSA

2023 DealMakers Annual Awards

Date: Tuesday 13 February 2024

Venue: Ballroom, Sandton Convention Centre

Headline Sponsor

Deal of the Year

BEE Deal of the Year

Top Sponsors by Deal Value and Deal Flow

Top Legal Advisers by Deal Value and Deal Flow

Individual DealMaker of the Year

Venue Sponsor

Wine Sponsor

MC: Alan Committie

Entertainment: The Muses

The 2023 DealMakers Annual Awards

Brunswick Deal of the Year 2023

Disposal by Life Healthcare of Alliance Medical Group to iCON Infrastructure

After receiving several unsolicited proposals from third parties to acquire its European diagnostic and molecular imaging business, Life Healthcare announced its disposal of AMG just seven years after its acquisition from funds managed by M&G Investments and Talbot Hughes McKillop. The deal, valued at c.R21bn (including debt) will unlock significant value for shareholders with the company set to return c.R8,4bn to shareholders by way of a special dividend.

Local Advisers to the deal were:

Brunswick DoY Advisers 2023 website v.jpg

Catalyst Private Equity Deal of the Year 2023

Exit by Carlyle Group of Tessara to AgroFresh

In 2018, Carlyle’s sub-Saharan Africa Fund acquired a majority stake in Cape-based Tessara. In 2023 the private equity firm exited its investment through a competitive auction process. AgroFresh is an AgTech innovator and global leader in post-harvest produce freshness and packaging solutions; Tessara specialises in SO2 generating sheets to prevent fungal decay and are sold in over 22 countries on five continents. During its tenure, Carlyle focused on strengthening Tessara’s R&D, new product innovation and on expanding the capacity of its manufacturing facilities.

PE DoY 2023 Carlyle Tessara Advisers.jpg

Local Advisers to the deal were:

Exxaro BEE Deal of the Year 2023

Absa’s eKhaya B-BBEE transaction

In March 2023, Absa announced the implementation of an R11,2bn Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment deal allocating a 7% shareholding to staff and community beneficiaries. The deal is structured with a 4% evergreen Corporate Social Investment component (CSI Trust) and a 3% vesting staff element (ESOP). Staff employed by Absa’s subsidiaries outside of South Africa will participate equally in a cash-equivalent staff scheme, equivalent to about 1% of the Absa Group’s market capitalisation. The transaction will directly impact c.35,000 people employed by Absa and benefit a broader constituency across South Africa through the CSI Trust.

Local Advisers to the deal were:

Business Rescue Transaction of the Year 2023

Cast Products South Africa

Cast Products South Africa (CPSA), the largest foundry group in South Africa and 85% owned by the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), was placed in voluntary business rescue by its board in December 2021. In the four years until it was placed in business rescue, the company lost c.R1,7m, excluding the losses that accumulated after the IDC acquired Scaw Metals from Anglo American in 2010 as a result of pressure from escalating input costs, particularly electricity and scrap metal. The restructuring and restoration of solvency has been finalised, and the BRP’s are presently in the process of restructuring the Board and appointing a strategic management team to take the business forward. R1bn of liability has been restructured, the manufacturing capacity for South Africa has been retained, and corresponding jobs preserved under circumstances where the manufacturing industry is facing challenging economic times.

Local Advisers to the deal were:

Ince Individual DealMaker of the Year 2023

Ferdi Vorster (Rand Merchant Bank)

A member of the Rand Merchant Bank team, Ferdi advised Vivo Energy and Vitol on the acquisition of Engen from Petronas. He led the acquisition by Pick n Pay of Tomis and was involved as part of the RMB deal team that advised Life Healthcare on the sale of Alliance Medical, the buyout and delisting of Liberty Two Degrees, and RCL Foods’ sale of Vector Logistics to A.P. Møller Capital. Ferdi also worked on the sale of a 68.3% stake in Tanzanian-listed Tanga Cement by AfriSam to German multinational, Heidelberg Cement, first announced in 2021 – a deal that has taken numerous twists and turns over a few years, in terms of regulatory approvals.

Special Recognition Award 2023

Every now and then DealMakers will announce a SPECIAL RECOGNITION award for a deal or a company that it feels warrants recognition for any multitude of reasons. In 2023 there was one such deal.

The Independent Panel singled out this transaction for its importance for our wildlife. While not qualifying for Deal of the Year,
they believed that its impact, in terms of protecting the white rhino species, is commendable and worthy of special recognition.

In early 2023, African Parks announced that it would acquire the captive rhino breeding operation known as the Platinum Rhino
Conservation Enterprise (previously Buffalo Dream Ranch) from John Hume, a South African conservationist, and would relocate
and rewild over 2,000 captive-bred Southern white rhinos.

The team at African Parks, headed by CEO and co-founder, Peter Fearnhead, were away doing what they do best - saving our wildlife - so were unable to attend the event. Their legal representatives on the deal, CMS-RM Partners, accepted the award on their behalf.