Treacle plans expansion beyond ICT sector

Johannesburg, 14 June 2004 - Private equity fund managers Treacle Venture Partners said today that following the success of its debut ICT fund, it was planning to broaden its investing focus beyond this sector. Treacle's R244 million Fund 1, whose investments include substantial holdings in Datacentrix and Erp.com, has generated an annualised internal rate of return of more than 50% since its inception in 2000.

Coinciding with the planned expansion, Njabulo Mthembu has acquired an equity interest in Treacle and has joined the company as an executive director. Mthembu, who holds a degree in economics from Natal University as well as a masters in accounting from Long Island University in New York, qualified as a certified public accountant in the USA and was a senior associate with Deloitte and Touche in New York from 1997 to 2001. Since returning to South Africa, he has specialised in providing transaction advisory and management consulting services to a number of private and public sector enterprises.

Mthembu said today his decision to join Treacle was predicated on an agreement with the founding directors for the strategic repositioning of the company within the private equity industry.

“The process of transferring equity ownership in established businesses to previously disadvantaged individuals currently dominates the South African private equity industry. However, this is essentially replacement capital funding. Treacle intends to go a step further by focusing its funding activities on businesses that require expansion capital - thus investing in real growth in the South African economy,” he said.