Fully black-owned private equity company Agile Capital is actively seeking to invest millions of rands into diverse sectors and companies with a solid presence in their sector.
Agile Capital has capital of about R900-million available for investment into new opportunities. “We have managed to establish ourselves as a respected private equity investment company in South Africa,” says Tshego Sefolo, CEO of Agile.
Agile Capital currently has a portfolio of 14 companies across various sectors, with a presence that is largely in South Africa. “Despite the current health and economic challenges, there remain a number of opportunities for investment and growth in various sectors, such as healthcare,” notes Liz Kolobe, principal dealmaker: Agile.
Agile Capital’s investment approach includes the strategy of teaming up with local partners and particularly those managers who have personal stakes or investments in their businesses. Appreciating the industry-specific knowledge embedded in existing executive management cannot be underestimated in a PE partnership. “We recognise the importance of executive management having as free a hand as possible in our investments,” notes Sefolo. “We approach investments from a non-executive perspective whilst being able to contribute in other ways – as sounding boards for new ideas, providing legal verification, or assisting in further expansion and additional liquidity.”
Each investment is unique and the degree of participation in investment vehicles may differ depending on the sophistication and size of any given business. “Agile actively looks to enter into long-term relationships, drawing on our extraordinary pool of human capital to bring value to our investments,” says Kolobe.