Moorari Gujadhur and Vithil Dabee advised Duet Private Equity Limited on the structuring and formation of a 3-tiered investment holding structure in Mauritius to tap into the consumer food and food retailing sectors in Ghana. Through the creation of Duet Consumer West Africa Holdings, a company incorporated in Mauritius and holding a category 1 global business licence, Duet Private Equity has invested US$50m of growth capital into Ghana, taking controlling stakes into Shop N Save, a supermarket joint-venture with the founders of the Finatrade Group, and GNFoods, a fast-growing food manufacturing company. It is expected that the growth capital invested into these two companies will be used to roll-out new food retail stores, expand manufacturing capacity and invest in sales and marketing capabilities.

This transaction has been widely commented on in the business press as the food retail sector across West Africa remains one of the most under-penetrated in the world, with less than 5% of food consumed being sold through organised retail channels, and it is anticipated that this partnership between Duet and the founders of one of West Africa’s largest food distributors will result in a market-leading regional supermarket player.

Clifford Chance acted as English counsel to Duet Private Equity Limited on this transaction.