Africa Capitalworks Management (ACW) has taken a significant minority stake in Malian soft drinks and bottled water company Gaselia Industries Group to fund regional expansion. Gaselia has bottling and distribution operations in Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Guinea.
The investment from Africa Capitalworks comes after Gaselia raised €35m ($38.1m) in financing to fund its expansion in 2018. This financing came organisations including Proparco (€11m/$12m) and the IFC (€13/$14.2m). The financing was used to build a new bottling plant in Conakry, Guinea as well as additional production lines in Mali and Côte d’Ivoire.
Gaselia was set up in 2002 in Mali. After success in Mali, Gaselia established nine companies operating in four business sectors – packaging, food grade gas, plastics (bottles and caps) and soft drink distribution – in West Africa.
The company is the exclusive partner of Monarch Beverages in its four West African markets. Its product range includes its own brands as well as Monarch brands such as Planet, American Cola, Bubble-Up and Reaktor. Gaselia also bottles and distributes mineral water under its Assinie brand.
ACW is part of Capitalworks Group, a leading independent alternative asset manager concentrating on Sub-Saharan Africa. CapitalWorks Group was set up in Johannesburg in 2006 and manages more US$1bn of investment funds.
