Deals
PIC Buys Into Africa's Biggest Feedlot in $365 Million Deal
- Fund manager partners Pelo to gain control of Karan Beef
- Transaction requires approval from Competition Commission
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South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. and black-economic empowerment group Pelo Agricultural Ventures agreed to pay as much as 5.2 billion rand ($365 million) for a majority stake in Karan Beef (Pty) Ltd., which operates the continent’s largest cattle feedlot and abattoir.
Founded by the Karan family on their farm in 1974 with fewer than 100 head of cattle, the company now owns a herd of about 150,000 and has also purchased three adjoining farms, an abattoir processing 2,100 cattle daily, and a nearby distribution center. While it mainly supplies the local market, it also has substantial exports, according to an emailed statement from the PIC, which didn’t disclose the size of the stake.