Billionaire South African family buys Nigeria’s top can-maker Company

The wealthy Oppenheimer family of South Africa now owns a majority share in GZ, a well-known can manufacturer in Nigeria.

One of the sons of the second richest man in Africa, Nicky Oppenheimer, Jonathan Oppenheimer, completed the acquisition. He reportedly gained complete control of GZ Industries Ltd., a well-known beverage can manufacturer in Nigeria, indicating a wager on the possible revival of the continent’s largest economy.

Affirma Capital (previously Standard Chartered Private Equity) finalized the purchase of the remaining shares in GZ Industries through Oppenheimer Partners Limited, according to a report published by Bloomberg.

Although the private equity company controlled a huge 37.5% of GZ Industries, a significant can supplier of companies like Coca-Cola Co., the deal’s financial specifics are still unknown.

In 2019, GZ started conducting business in Nigeria. The company’s Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Officer is Ayodeji Adelakun.

With this move, Jonathan Oppenheimer will have more authority to direct GZ Industries’ growth in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to study published in Nature Communication, the region is a crucial market, with urban, educated persons having the greatest consumption of sugary drinks worldwide, averaging 12.4 servings per week.

Strategically, the acquisition makes sense in order to capitalize on this profitable customer base.

When a GZI factory was established in South Africa in 2018, Oppenheimer Partners became involved in the GZI endeavor for the first time.

With a 20% market share at the moment, GZI competes with Nampak Ltd., a financially troubled company that is now selling off assets and reorganizing its debt.

The first money that Affirma Capital invested in GZI was made in 2012.

GZ Industries is one of the major producers in Africa, producing three billion aluminum cans a year. 1,800,000,000 is the production figure of those cans are produced in Nigeria.