OUR INVESTMENT PHILOSPHY
WIPHOLD’s investment philosophy is about both building and enhancing shareholder value. The strategic imperatives that underpin this investment philosophy are values-based and seek to:
• influence the economic landscape in order to unlock opportunities for women;
• create the pathways for talented black women to achieve success in the business world; and
• promote innovative ways to economically uplift rural and peri-urban communities.
Our investment philosophy is founded on these core principles:
• We play the long game and are patiently committed to building enduring value.
• We are intentional and strategic – acquiring stakes in businesses with proven success.
• We look beyond profit and value businesses on the quality of their organisational leadership and market stature.
• We look to leverage opportunities that offer us strategic and operational influence to meet our objectives for shareholder value.
WIPHOLD boasts a well-rounded and diverse portfolio, primarily focused on:
- Mamba Cement
- Imvelo Consortium
- Merensky
- AFGRI Grain Silo Company (SiloCo)
- WIPHOLD Agriculture
- Westfalia Fruit
- Sasfin
- Old Mutual Group
- Sasol Mining
- Landis + Gyr
- Ntsimbintle Holdings
- Bluespec
- USB Executive Development
OUR INVESTMENT PHILOSPHY
WIPHOLD’s investment philosophy is about both building and enhancing shareholder value. The strategic imperatives that underpin this investment philosophy are values-based and seek to:
• influence the economic landscape in order to unlock opportunities for women;
• create the pathways for talented black women to achieve success in the business world; and
• promote innovative ways to economically uplift rural and peri-urban communities.
Our investment philosophy is founded on these core principles:
• We play the long game and are patiently committed to building enduring value.
• We are intentional and strategic – acquiring stakes in businesses with proven success.
• We look beyond profit and value businesses on the quality of their organisational leadership and market stature.
• We look to leverage opportunities that offer us strategic and operational influence to meet our objectives for shareholder value.
WIPHOLD boasts a well-rounded and diverse portfolio, primarily focused on:
- Mamba Cement
- Imvelo Consortium
- Merensky
- AFGRI Grain Silo Company (SiloCo)
- WIPHOLD Agriculture
- Westfalia Fruit
- Sasfin
- Old Mutual Group
- Sasol Mining
- Landis + Gyr
- Ntsimbintle Holdings
- Bluespec
- USB Executive Development
Mamba Cement
Sector:
Infrastructure
Shareholding:
Rationale for the investment:
To participate meaningfully in the infrastructure and cement value chain
Mamba Cement uses a unique waste heat recovery system, making it one of the lowest-cost producers in the local industry. The cost advantages, as a result of using innovative and energy efficient technology, are being leveraged to gain market share from competitors that rely on decades-old technology and facilities. The new plant is also in close proximity to the core inland cement market in South Africa.
Mamba Cement uses
a unique waste heat
recovery system, making
it one of the lowest-cost
producers in the local
industry.
Other stakeholders include African Rhino Cement and Continental Cement. African Rhino Cement is
a joint venture between the state-owned China-Africa Development Fund and long-time WIPHOLD partner, Jidong Cement, the largest cement producer in north China. In 2006, Jidong Cement assigned distribution rights to WIPHOLD – and we developed an enduring relationship that enabled WIPHOLD
to gain a deeper understanding of the industry and local and neighbouring markets. Based on this experience, Jidong Cement was a natural choice for a technical partner. Jidong’s position as both a leading manufacturer of cement plans and a cement producer makes for an exciting investment opportunity.
Our long-term investment horizon is evident not only in our commitment to Mamba Cement’s future prospects but also in the five-year project development cycle. The conceptualisation of the new plant was announced in 2010, with production commencing in November 2015. The cement project was also the first project of its kind to be funded on a limited recourse project finance basis.
Imvelo Consortium
Sector:
Infrastructure
Shareholding:
Rationale for the investment:
by participating in this
public-private partnership
The Imvelo Consortium was awarded the contract to build the Department of Environmental Affairs’ new head office in Pretoria. Construction began in 2014 and is now complete. Imvelo continues to manage the facility. WIPHOLD has a 20% shareholding in this consortium, an investment partnership with Aveng Africa, Old Mutual and Kagiso Tiso Holdings. The building – the first government office in the country to receive a 6 Green Star SA rating – was constructed as a public-private partnership that is in effect for a total of 25 years.
The Imvelo Consortium was
awarded the contract to
build the Department of
Environmental Affairs’ new
head office in Pretoria.
Merensky Timber
Sector:
Infrastructure
Shareholding:
Rationale for the investment:
Timber is a
leading player
in the timber
value chain
-
Food & Agriculture
Food And Agriculture
AFGRI Grain Silo Company
(SiloCo)
Sector:
Shareholding:
Rationale for the investment:
In 2019, WIPHOLD acquired a 25% shareholding in AFGRI Grain Silo Company (SiloCo), a unique infrastructure-type asset in the agriculture and grain value chain with stable, growing cash flows.
This investment is a core fit for WIPHOLD’s agriculture strategy and will result in future synergies within its existing activities.
Mamba Cement uses
a unique waste heat
recovery system, making
it one of the lowest-cost
producers in the local
industry.
SiloCo has 85 grain storage silos and bunker facilities with a growing capacity that currently holds 4.9 million tons. The company’s aim is to enable the growth of the grain storage capacity in South Africa and on the continent, ultimately strengthening food security in the region. The grain storage facilities are located in farming areas that enjoy consistently above average rainfall
and crop yields, and are located along strategic grain import and export routes. The facilities are managed by AFGRI, one of South Africa’s leading agricultural services companies, with over 100 years of experience and heritage in grain commodities and agriculture.
The investment generates returns that are well above current yields on infrastructure-type assets and offers an attractive and growing running yield.
WIPHOLD Agriculture
Sector:
Food and agriculture
Shareholding:
100%
Beneficiaries:
100%
Rationale for the investment:
To participate in the agriculture value chain by leveraging communally-owned land
WIPHOLD Agriculture is the realisation of WIPHOLD’s broader vision to build capacity and operational excellence throughout the agriculture value chain. WIPHOLD Agriculture includes two operational units: WIPHOLD Agriculture Company that hosts the farming operations; and WIP Equipment that procures and leases the production machinery to projects.
This strategy was based on the commercial opportunities that arose from WIPHOLD’s involvement in developing community farming projects in the Eastern Cape for over a decade. WIPHOLD has experienced successful partnerships with local communities to harness the combined benefits of their communal land. The commercial maize farming project covered 2 500 ha in the Eastern Cape and had benefited around 2 300 landowners by 2023. In 2015, Old Mutual and Nedbank became co-funders of this strategic operation through the provision of patient loan financing.
experienced successful
partnerships with local
communities to harness
the combined benefits of
their communal land.
Westfalia Fruit
Sector:
Food and agriculture
Shareholding:
Rationale for the investment:
To hold a strategic investment in
the agriculture value chain
WIPHOLD is an indirect shareholder in Westfalia Fruit, as a result of its investment in holding company Hans Merensky Holdings.
Westfalia Fruit is a leading multinational supplier of fresh fruit produce including avocados, mangoes, blueberries, pomegranates, apples, grapes, stone fruit, citrus, cherries and passion fruit. Through a vertically-integrated supply chain, Westfalia Fruit grows, sources, ripens, packs, processes and markets
supply chain, Westfalia Fruit
grows, sources, ripens, packs,
processes and markets quality
produce, throughout the year
and across the globe.
-
Financial Services
Financial Services
Old Mutual Group
Sector:
Financial services
Shareholding:
0.3%
Rationale for the investment:
To participate in the financial services sector through strategic investments
Our relationship with the Old Mutual Group extends to 2003, when WIPHOLD delisted from the JSE and Old Mutual acquired a 32.5% shareholding in the company.
In 2005, WIPHOLD acquired a shareholding in Old Mutual Plc, Nedbank and Mutual and Federal in 2005 as part of a 10 year Black Economic Empowerment deal. Following the maturation of this deal, WIPHOLD retained a 0.3% shareholding in Old Mutual and sold its stake in Nedbank in 2017.
acquired a shareholding in
Old Mutual Plc, Nedbank
and Mutual and Federal in
2005 as part of a 10 year
Black Economic
Empowerment deal.
Project Imbizo was one of the outcomes of WIPHOLD’s partnership with Old Mutual. It was a transformational financial services strategy developed and driven by WIPHOLD to promote sustainable financial inclusion offering communities safe savings, loans and appropriate insurance services. In so doing, it helped communities to enhance incomes, acquire capital, manage risk and move out of poverty. This project set a tone and precedent for the type of value that WIPHOLD could bring as a partner in the financial services sector.
-
Mining & Energy
Mining & Energy
Infrastructure
Food &
Agriculture
Financial
Services
Services
Sasol Mining
Sector:
Mining and energy
Shareholding:
6.1%
Rationale for the investment:
To participate in the coal mining sector through strategic investment strategic
In 2010, WIPCoal, acquired a 10.2% stake in Sasol Mining, South Africa’s fourth largest coal producer.
WIPcoal is 20% owned by WIPHOLD and 60% owned by Mining Women Investments Trust, a Trust established by WIPHOLD, to empower black women from rural areas. This particular opportunity enabled women from the
and 60% owned by Mining Women
Investments Trust, a Trust
established by WIPHOLD, to empower black women from rural areas.
Free State, Mpumalanaga and Limpopo (in areas where Sasol Mining has operations and coal reserves) to participate in the mining economy through a shareholding in Sasol Mining.
Landis + Gyr
Sector:
Mining and energy
Shareholding:
23.4%
Rationale for the investment:
To participate in the energy
value chain
WIPHOLD has a 23.4% in Landis+Gyr SA, the South African operation of the Swiss-multinational Landis+Gyr group. Landis+Gyr offers a complete range of metering solutions, including credit electricity meters and smart prepayment metering.
Ntsimbintle Holdings
Sector:
Mining and energy
Shareholding:
5.8%
Rationale for the investment:
To strategically participate
in the coal mining sector
Ntsimbintle Holdings, established in 2003, is the majority shareholder of Tshipi Borwa mine, South Africa’s single largest manganese mine and ore exporter since 2018.
Ntsimbintle Holdings was formed by nine Black South African groups to pursue manganese mining opportunities and grew exponentially. WIPHOLD hosts a strategic 5.8% investment in the company.
-
Services
SERVICES
Infrastructure
Food &
Agriculture
Financial
Services
Services
Bluespec
Sector:
Infrastructure
Shareholding:
25.1%
Rationale for the investment:
USB Executive
Development
Sector:
Education
Shareholding:
16.3%
Rationale for the investment:
To strategically participate in the services sector
WIPHOLD has a 16.3% shareholding in USB Executive Development, the executive education arm of the University of Stellenbosch Business School. In 2001, the Business School decided to consolidate its shorter programmes and to deliver executive education via one contact point. Since then, USB-ED has since structured its services into open programmes, corporate partnership programmes, leadership and organisational development, and consulting.