Sanlam’s private equity arm buys meat supplier Cavalier

Sanlam Private Equity has snapped up a majority stake in meat producer Cavalier Group of Companies, marking its first investment in the red meat industry.

The PE fund controlled by South African financial services group Sanlam didn’t disclose the deal value.

Sanlam PE picked the stake in a secondary transaction from state-owned lender Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa and Griekwaland-wes Korporatief Bpk (GWK), an agricultural and food chain company.

“While Cavalier Group holds supply contracts with major retailers in South Africa, new opportunities can include exporting products to the Middle East and supplying quick-service restaurants and hospitality businesses,” said SPE managing partner Paul Moeketsi.

Cavalier procures, packages and sells red meat and related products. It has a lamb feedlot and a processing, deboning and packaging plant. It also has a beef abattoir.

The company is the largest employer in the Cullinan region of South Africa’s Gauteng province, with nearly two-thirds of workers being women.

The group consists of five entities: Cavalier Foods, Cavalier Livestock, Cavalier Abattoir and Cavalier Feeders, besides the holding company.

Cavalier Foods (previously Just Lamb) was established in 1998. It is a red meat wholesaler and packing house located near Cullinan that started by procuring and slaughtering small livestock in South Africa and Namibia.

Cavalier Livestock is an intermediary for various abattoirs and feedlots across the country. Cavalier Abattoir operates beef and sheep abattoirs that are located on the same premises as the group’s packaging factories and feedlot.

Cavalier Feeders is situated on Boekenhout Farm, outside Pretoria, and has its own in-house feed factory where rations are mixed according to specific requirements.