Change of Ownership for African Distributor Solevo
African specialty chemicals distributor Solevo has been sold by its former owner Helios Investment Partners to Development Partners International (DPI), a private equity firm focused on Africa, in a consortium with minority co-investors South Suez and European development finance institution, DEG.
Following all regulatory approvals, the deal closed on Apr. 18. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Helios said the divestment follows the significant transformation of the company into a pan-African champion achieved by driving the institutionalization of the business and positioning it for continued growth.
Together with global investor Temasek, Helios acquired Solevo in 2017 through the corporate carve-out of the African Inputs business from Louis Dreyfus Company’s (LDC), a leading global commodities merchant.
With an expanding portfolio of specialty chemicals across key high-GDP contributing sectors in life sciences and industrials, Solevo operates an extensive specialty chemicals distribution platform across eight countries in West and Central Africa, including Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Angola, Ghana and Madagascar.
DPI said it plans to accelerate the distributor’s expansion to scale into new geographies. Africa is regarded as one of the fastest growing markets for chemicals globally, driven by secular trends toward urbanization, industrialization and a fast-growing, emerging middle class.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
