Alitheia IDF, an African women-led and gender lens-focused private equity firm that received commitments to raise $100-million fund a year ago, said Thursday it has finalised an investment into corporate travel management company Club Travel Corporate (CTC).
The investment will enable CTC’s black- women-led management team to take over the company through a buyout arrangement, and expand the company’s operations to other countries in Africa.
In addition, the funding will allow for significant enhancements to be made to the 15-year-old company’s proprietary technology, NexCT.
Polo Leteka, Partner at Alitheia IDF, said CTC is predominantly made up of black women, with 80% of the company’s employees being female.
“This is a well-established niche travel firm that is part of the Club Travel SA group, which is owned by Travelstart. The management team, together with AIF, has now decided to take a majority stake in the business via a management buy-out arrangement. We believe that this buy-out is very much in line with our investment strategy,” she said.
According to Gary Mulder, the CEO of Club Travel SA, “Negotiations about this deal began about 18 months ago, during the heart of the pandemic when travel had largely ground to a halt, and this reflects the confidence in the potential that the business offers.”
Kananelo Makhetha, CEO of CTC, said: “Earlier predictions that corporate travel would grow during 2022 are being realised, and we are already seeing more in-person conferences taking place around the world. This management buy-out and the support we will have from our new partner, AIF, augurs well for the entire business travel market which will benefit from the specialisation that we can offer in terms of business travel, especially for our corporate clients.”
Alitheia IDF is co-founded and managed by two women-led firms – Alitheia Capital (Lagos, Nigeria) and IDF Capital (Johannesburg, South Africa). It invests in growth-stage companies across six African countries: Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Zambia.
The fund has led investment rounds in five women-led businesses across essential sectors including agribusiness, education, manufacturing, housing, technology, and logistics. These companies are Jetstream Africa (Ghana), ReelFruit (Nigeria), SKLD (formerly SchoolKits, Nigeria), AV Light Steel (South Africa) and Chika’s Food (Nigeria).
As first reported by The Capital Quest, Alitheia was also in talks to invest in another company. This proposed deal is yet to close.
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