Dashen brewery to get USD 90 million finance from DEG and group

Tigrai Online, May 28, 2012

Dashen's modern plant,occuping an area of 8.5 hectars ,was completed with an initial capital investment of over 340 million Birr. The Brewery is located in the historical town Gondar in north western Ethiopia

DEG - Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, together with London based Duet Group (Duet) and Vasari Group (Vasari), provide the Ethiopian company Dashen Brewery Pvt Ltd Co. (Dashen) with an equity investment of 90 million US-dollars for expansion investments. Dashen is a well-established indigenous brewery producing the well-known brands "Dashen" and "Royal". "We are delighted to have DEG amongst us in this landmark transaction, as this is the largest private equity transaction in Ethiopia so far. We are confident that we will benefit immensely from their strong expertise and knowledge of investing in Africa," said Henry Gabay, Chairman and Co-Founder of Duet Group.

DEG's own investment of 12.5 million US-dollars into Dashen makes DEG the first international development finance institution to support the company. "With our financing, we support the sustainable growth of a well-established local company, generating significant employment and ensuring growing tax revenues for the government. We are proud to partner with Dashen and believe that this should have a positive effect on other international private sector investors," said Christoph Evard, leading DEG's equity team on this transaction. Dashen will utilize the funds to expand its production capacity and to improve its distribution facilities in order to grow its market reach within Ethiopia. Ethiopia, which has Africa's second largest population with over 75 million people, is becoming increasingly attractive for investments due to its strong growth record and increased private sector activity.

As part of the expansion, Dashen will benefit from the provision of state-of-the-art German brewing technology. "There will be a transfer of material technology know-how through the implementation of world class production technology in Dashen, underlining DEG's role to support German business in Africa" said Qahir Neky, member of the DEG equity team.

Supporting African companies with long-term financing is a strategic goal for DEG. With new commitments of 233 million Euros in 2011, DEG was able to increase its exposure to Africa from the prior year. DEG plans to further expand its business activities in Ethiopia over the next years.

DEG has three representative offices in Africa, which are located in Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.

About Daxhen Brewery

Dashen's modern plant,occuping an area of 8.5 hectars ,was completed with an initial capital investment of over 340 million Birr. The Brewery is located in the historical town Gondar which is annually visited by more than 95,000 tourists. It's named after Mount Dashen ,Ethiopia's highst mountain elivation4523 meters),and a home to rare endemic fauna and flora and renewed for its breath taking scenery.

The principal aim of Dashen Brewery is meeting the customer requirments for quality beer and to offer customers more choice in the market wirth out affecting the environment .Thus, the brewery is highly committed to waste reduction, waste managment and satisfying customer need and expectations.

Dashen brewery utilizes state of the arts technology and has a hightly qualified proffesional work force that will enable it to complete on the export market with the leading international beer producing and marketing companies.

Source: World Stage Group

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