High impact through cold storage

Hogan Lovells is proud to have advised Dutch development bank FMO (Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V.), on its recent co-investment with funds managed by African Infrastructure Investment Managers into Commercial Cold Holdings Limited (CCH).

CCH is a South African cold storage platform with a pan-African expansion strategy. The company is on a path of acquiring and consolidating existing and greenfield businesses within the temperature-controlled logistics market, with a focus on storage. Its anchor investments are based in South Africa and Namibia, but CCH will pursue expansion beyond South Africa and Namibia into other countries across East, West and North Africa.

A key positive impact will be the reduction of the carbon footprint associated with logistics of this nature in the region. This will be achieved by increasing the amount of renewable energy used to power the facilities and in some instances the use of CO2 as a refrigerant.

The co-investment fits well with FMO’s strategy of pursuing impactful co-investments in its core focus sectors with partner fund managers, and lines up well with Hogan Lovells’ ethos as a firm that strives to help create impactful and sustainable outcomes.

Having an uninterrupted cold chain is vital to reduce food loss and waste, indirectly contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 2 (zero hunger), and CCH will address a specific gap in the food supply chain by increasing cold storage capacity. Through the provision of meaningful work during construction and operations, CCH will also improve livelihoods for those employed and contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 8 (decent work and economic growth).

The Hogan Lovells Johannesburg-based corporate/M&A team was led by Chris Green, Office Managing Partner, and Senior Associate, Simone Izzard.


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