Amabubesi Investments has bought a 31% interest in Lancewood Cheese, a leading player in the South African dairy industry, for an undisclosed sum.
The chairman of Lancewood Cheese, Jack Rubin, says the empowerment transaction will enable Lancewood to align itself with government’s view of black economic empowerment as an integrated and coherent socio-economic process that directly contributes to transformation.
“Amabubesi’s shareholding in Lancewood not only gives us a critical component at a time when growth level transformation is key for the company and the economy, but will enable us to expand our customer base and allow us to enter new markets” he says.
The transaction is the first phase in a number of transformation activities that Lancewood Cheese envisages. “We believe that this transaction will open doors to in future also empower our work force and we also envisage setting up an empowerment structure that will involve our dairy producers and their farm workers” he says.
Based in George in the Western Cape, the company was founded by the Rubin Family 10 years ago as an extension of their large dairy farm. Lancewood Cheese manufactures specialty dairy products and is the market leader in certain product categories.
The company has received many national and international accolades for its value added product range.
The acquisition also gives Amabubesi an opportunity to get involved in the agricultural and food industries. The company’s investment portfolio comprises healthcare, infrastructure and property, transport and logistics, technology, media, leisure and tourism as well as broking services.
Ngcuka says: “We always look at our strengths and identify sectors accordingly. Key to our investment strategy is active involvement in the development and growth of our investments. Agriculture and the food sector has also become our focus area. In dealing with the leadership of Lancewood Cheese we found excellent cooperation that would surely result in innovative solutions and help maximize value. In the end, we trust that will create and enhance an entrepreneurial culture in the business.”
The Rubin Family Trust will hold 65% and the remaining 4% of the shares are held by David Mitchell, a founder member |
