Amethis sells its entire stake in Velogic through an IPO
Amethis sold its entire 33.77% stake in Velogic, a leading transport and logistics company based in Mauritius and active in the Indian Ocean, portfolio company of Amethis Fund I, through an IPO on the Development & Enterprise Market of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius.
Headquartered in Mauritius, Velogic combines over 50 years of experience and in-depth expertise in the logistics business including freight-forwarding, customs clearance, transport, warehousing, port services, courier services, ship agency and packaging of special sugars. Velogic serves clients worldwide in numerous sectors, from healthcare and retail to construction and fashion, including blue chip names like Huawei, Galeries Lafayette or United Nations agencies. Velogic is led by a strong and experienced bilingual management team, with 1,400 employees and over 300 agents globally.
Amethis invested in Velogic in December 2013 to support the Company’s geographic expansion. Velogic started its first operations on the African continent in 2016 with the acquisition of two companies in Kenya in the custom clearance and transport segments. With this expansion in East Africa, Velogic is now strategically located in 7 territories – Mauritius, Kenya, Madagascar, Reunion, India, Singapore and France – of which its two frontier markets of Kenya and India show double-digit growth.
Over the course of Amethis’ investment, Velogic succeed in growing its revenues to more than 75m EUR and more than doubled its EBITDA to c.7m EUR, driven by the growth in volume traded by the Company and by the diversification into higher margin services. Velogic’s excellent service quality was recognized in 2017, when the Company was awarded by UPS, global leader in courier services, its regional representation in Mauritius, Reunion Island, Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros and Mayotte.
The full exit Amethis in Velogic was enabled by the Company’s listing on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius at an introductory price of 25 MUR per share, with a mix of retail and institutional investors acquiring Amethis’ 33.77% stake. Rogers Group, Velogic’s main shareholder, kept its majority stake in the company.
“The logistics industry is the lifeblood of the exchange of commercial goods. The health crisis has, moreover, demonstrated the importance of this sector, which has been relatively less impacted by the pandemic. The entry of Velogic on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius will allow it to attract the interest of local and international investors with the aim of diversifying the company’s shareholder base and boosting the liquidity of its shares. With our presence in the Indian Ocean, we are well positioned to use Mauritius as a logistics hub for the region. Our ambition is to consolidate our activities in our traditional markets while focusing on our growth in emerging markets, namely East Africa, Madagascar and India “, explains Vishal Nunkoo, Chief Executive Officer of Velogic.
“We would like to take this opportunity to commend Velogic’s management team for their performances and achievements since Amethis’ investment. The success of Velogic’s expansion in East Africa comforts our investment strategy of building strong African regional champions to tap into the growing African trade. We are also pleased of our exit on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius: his is Amethis’ second exit through an IPO and it shows the increasing dynamism of African stock exchange markets. We are happy that Velogic’s new shareholders also valued the Company’s longstanding commitment to more sustainable practices, both on the environmental pilar with the increasing use of renewable energies, and on the social pilar, with ambitious training programs for the Company’s employees.” stated Khady Koné-Dicoh, Partner at Amethis.
For Amethis, the transaction was led by Luc Rigouzzo, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Khady Koné-Dicoh, Partner and Melanie Meslay, Investment Manager.