High-quality private cash flow, deal by deal.
Diversified equity in quality businesses at attractive prices. No blind pool. Aligned-incentive cash-yielding businesses, with contractual quarterly distributions and full visibility on every deal before you commit a rand.
We have two goals.
Best-performing private investment vehicle in South Africa.
Compounding capital depends on two things: the rate of return (R) and the years it runs (N). Our job is to maximise R and stay in the game long enough for N to do the heavy lifting.
The R × N rule
A 30% return for 5 years turns R1 into R3.7. A 30% return for 15 years turns R1 into R51. Same R, three times the N, fourteen times the result.
- RMaximise the rate of return
- NStay in the game, for years
Maximising R — four sources of return
High cash yields at entry
Businesses in the R20–40m EBITDA band face very few institutional buyers. The economics fail for traditional PE below R40m EBITDA, and competition compresses returns above it. Pricing reflects that — and that's the gap we play in.
Growth
We buy businesses with pricing power, structural tailwinds, low capital intensity. They grow with inflation plus a real percentage at baseline, before any operating leverage. Beyond that, growth comes from people — re-potting the plant when a founder is ready to step back.
Leverage
Conservative at the holding company. Operating businesses are not loaded with debt that breaks them in a downturn. Leverage is a tool, not the strategy.
Multiple accretion
Businesses we acquire below R40m EBITDA tend to re-rate as they cross the institutional threshold. We sell only opportunistically — when the capital from a sale can be redeployed at a higher rate of return than it would have earned in the business.
At best, a typical PE fund needs five people to source, manage, and exit deals — roughly R20m a year in salaries and overhead. A 2% management fee on that cost base implies around R1bn under management. That team can run at most ten investments. Assuming 50% leverage, that requires R100m of equity per deal, an enterprise value above R200m, and an EBITDA above R40m. Below that line, the fund economics fail. Above it, competition compresses returns.
Maximising N — staying in the game
Low debt
Leverage at holdco is conservative. Operating businesses aren't loaded with debt that breaks them in a downturn.
Alignment
The shareholder agreement aligns founders, management, and investors. Twelve-month optimisation at the expense of ten years is structurally removed.
Diligence on operators
The business matters; the people running it matter more. We spend most of our diligence on the character and competence of the founder.
Quality businesses
Strong moats and durable demand defend against competition and downturns. Quality is systematically undervalued in the lower mid-market.
Diversification
Some businesses fail — that's the cost of equity risk. With a portfolio, losses are bounded and winners are uncapped.
A force for good in South Africa.
We take our role as owners seriously. Ownership is custodianship — of customers, employees, partners, and society. These goals are not separate from the return goal; they reinforce it.
Customers
The customer is the point of the business. Growing the value we deliver is the main thing, and the main thing stays the main thing.
Employees
Employment with dignity and purpose — fair pay, real opportunities to grow, workplaces that treat people well.
Society
We believe the transition from incumbent operators to new talent is critically important in moving South Africa forward.
Environment
We hold our businesses to credible standards on environmental impact. South Africa needs companies that can grow without taking from the future.
Per-deal SPVs. Contractual distributions. No blind pool.
- 2–5%Closing feeOften reinvested as Teiken's equity in the SPV.
- ~2%Management feeAnnual, on AUM, for the governance role.
- 20%Carried interestAbove hurdle (~10%). Standard 80/20 split.
- R20–40mEBITDA targetPer acquisition.
- 4–6×Acquisition multipleSA mid-market typical.
- R40–180mEquity check50% stake, Teiken + investors combined.
- ~25%Investor IRR targetWith contractual quarterly distributions.
See deals as they come.
We share each opportunity individually with a small list of family-office investors. If that is the kind of pipeline you want to see, get in touch.