![[South Africa] Bounty Brands receives $22 million from IFC to support expansion](Bounty brands.jpg)
[South Africa] Bounty Brands receives $22 million from IFC to support expansion
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is investing $22 million to support the expansion of Bounty Brands, a South African platform that sells food, personal care and home care goods in over forty countries globally.
Bounty Brands will use the capital to introduce new products in South Africa and to venture into markets like Poland, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, and Kenya. The company’s expansion is expected to double its number of employees from the current 2,080 to over four thousand by 2021 The new jobs will be evenly split between South Africa and Poland.
Aside from direct employees, Bounty Brands’ growth will also create opportunities for sales agents and other entrepreneurs in its supply chain. Bounty Brands’ portfolio companies like Annique and Table Charm use direct marketing models, that train and empower c.20,000 sales agents, most of them young women from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. As Bounty Brands expands, it aims to double its network of sales agents.
“IFC’s investment will enable us to continue expanding in South Africa, where we already have a firm foothold, and provide the risk capital we need to venture into new markets like Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Our aim is to make Bounty Brands a household name for consumer goods not only on the African continent but globally. Already, IFC's Corporate Governance assessment and Environmental and Social review have added significant value to the group as it prepares for a listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange in the next 12 -18 months.” said Stefan Rabe, CEO of Bounty Brands
“IFC partners with ambitious, growing companies like Bounty Brands, which have the ability to create global value chains that can employ thousands of people, while developing logistics and infrastructure,” said Mary Jean Moyo, IFC Head of Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services for Africa. “IFC will tap into its global network and expertise to provide hands-on support to Bounty Brands as the company sets foot into new frontiers.”
The $22 million investment by IFC will be in the form of a convertible loan, which can be redeemed in cash or convertible into common equity of Bounty Brands upon a successful listing of its shares on the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
