Africa-Press – Eswatini. Greystone Partners in it’s bid to position change and expand it’s reach in the regions will require a capital investment of E300 million.
This was highlighted by African Alliance’s Private Equity, Sibahle Magagula at the Greystone annual general meeting held at Royal Villas yesterday. Speaking on behalf of managers, Magagula said Greystone aimed to venture beyond its traditional focus in Eswatini and invest in high-growth opportunities in neighbouring countries.
“As you know, Eswatini has a small population, in order to reach the heights we want to reach, we will need to grow regionally and tap into our neighbouring economies,” she said.
She said this regional expansion would allow the company to spread risk and tap into diverse markets with distinct economic strengths.
“We will achieve this by investing in attractive and sustainable industries with scalable business models and strong management structure, not just in Eswatini but regionally,” she said.
Magagula added, saying the company was looking to grow vertically and horizontally, taking advantage of the different value chains it is exposed to.
“We also aim to acquire more fast moving goods,” she noted.
Magagula highlighted that the company was looking to continue investing in financial services in a bid to grow the company’s property portfolio.
Furthermore, Magagula revealed that Greystone planned to divest its agricultural portfolio through an ‘asset for shareholding swap’.
She said this strategic move implied that the company was exchanging its agricultural assets for shares in Inala Capital.
Magagula underscored that this swap would allow Greystone to exit an area deemed less promising for their goals while gaining access to potentially-more lucrative opportunities.
While presenting Greystone Partners’ 2022 financial results, Magagula acknowledged a slight delay in unveiling the final figures, which she explained, stemmed from holdups experienced by their portfolio companies in finalising their own financial reports.
As an investment firm, she said their financial situation depended heavily on the performance and reporting timelines of the companies they hold shares in.
“We have to wait for financials from the companies that Greystone holds shares in,” she said.
Going beyond the raw numbers mentioned earlier, Magagula delved deeper into Greystone Partners’ financial performance for 2022, acknowledging the unique challenges faced during the year.
Key obstacles, according to Magagula, was the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as global event’s lingering, such as the Ukraine- Russia conflict which impacted the firm’s ability to accurately value its portfolio companies, resulting in a significant fair value loss of E122 million.
In the same year, the group brought in E14 million in dividends but only paid out E9.6 million, suggesting that they reinvested a portion of their profits
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