Grovest

"Overview

Grovest is South Africa’s first venture capital company incorporated under Section 12J of the Income Tax Act. Simply put, this affords investors direct exposure to the rapidly growing VC sector in South Africa, whilst enabling them to write off up to 100% of their investment capital against their taxable income.

We invest in high growth, scalable, low capex private companies, partnering with them to provide both growth capital and management support to gain traction and scale. Our primary objective is to achieve long term returns greater than those available from investing in a portfolio of listed companies.

Investment Philosophy

Grovest’s investment strategy is to identify high growth, scalable, low capital expenditure, disruptive South African private companies, with strong management teams that hold meaningful shareholdings in their businesses. We provide these companies with the capital and management support they need to optimise their potential and generate value through improved strategic, operational and human resource capabilities.

Our objective is to return between three and five times initial investment, which equates to an IRR of 28% over a three to seven year period.

Investment Criteria

The portfolio of investments to be acquired will comprise a spread of pre and post revenue businesses and businesses requiring growth capital.

Grovest will invest in companies with the following attributes:

• Business models with potential for rapid growth in revenues and profitability;
• Defensible market positions;
• Strong, balanced and well-motivated management teams that hold meaningful shareholdings in their companies;
• Attractive entry prices;
• Opportunities for Grovest to add value;
• The prospect of exiting with a meaningful investment surplus over a five year period.

Process

Grovest has developed a rigorous investment process to ensure the highest standard of investment decision making. Investment opportunities will be investigated by Venture Capital Management Services (VCMS). VCMS is managed by professionals with over 80 years’ experience and successful track records in private equity and venture capital investment.

Qualifying investment opportunities will be selected for further due diligence and financial modelling. Such due diligence will comprise a comprehensive review of management (capabilities, roles, history, shareholding etc), the market in which the company operates, its competitive position within the market and the opportunities and risks facing the business.

VCMS may also appoint specialist professional advisers to assist with investigation if required.
If there is a satisfactory outcome to the due diligence process, a formal proposal will be submitted to the Grovest investment committee for consideration.

Voting Principles

Shareholders in Grovest shall have voting rights in accordance with the Companies Act, 71 of 2008, as amended, and the Memorandum Of Incorporation of the Company, as amended from time to time.
The Committee will have the right to co-opt appropriately skilled parties as and when required...."

 http://www.grovest.co.za/