A finely tailored acquisition for Barron

The challenge

Barron has been supplying corporate and promotional apparel and branded goods to the South African corporate sector since 1990. The family-owned business has over the past three decades grown to become the largest supplier of corporate and promotional apparel and branded goods in Africa. While the business has seen successful growth in Africa in South Africa, Namibia and Zambia, the company needed to further grow its business across sub-Saharan Africa. Barron also wished to expand its current product range of corporate apparel, workwear, chef wear, bags, sports, school and clubwear to include corporate gifts.

The RMB solution

RMB Ventures, together with Barron Management and a consortium of private equity firms, including RMB Corvest and Ethos Mid-Market Fund I have acquired a 100% stake in Barron. This acquisition not only gave Barron access to a powerful combination of capital, business expertise and market knowledge, but it also enabled it to expand its business across sub-Saharan Africa and across new categories.

RMB Ventures chose to invest in Barron because of its market-leading position, its ability to provide customers with a comprehensive range of quality brand-able solutions and its strong growth prospects. The business is furthermore led by an impressive management team – making it an attractive investment opportunity in an asset that is set up to deliver value over the medium term.

Proven results

The RMB Ventures consortium identified strong prospects for Barron to grow its footprint into the Broader Africa. It also offered the company business expertise and market knowledge to enable it to expand its current product range into a more diversified offering.

Post the transaction, Barron is now also able to take advantage of RMB’s experience and networks in a number of countries outside of South Africa. By growing and diversifying its business, Barron is further more able to grow its stock levels and its ability to offer quality goods at the right price.

The transaction also saw Barron significantly improve its black ownership credentials, and in doing so, increased its competitive advantage as preferred supplier of promotional apparel and custom-branded goods.