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Collins Private Equity (CPE)
CPE is the private equity investment business established by the shareholders of the Collins Property Group (CPG) in partnership with two private equity specialists.

The CPG is a private property holding concern run by Murray and Kenneth Collins who have been in the property industry for over ten years. CPG is based in KZN where the Collins family has been associated with construction, property development and private equity investment for four generations. CPG has built a significant portfolio throughout SA with assets in excess of R 2 billion. Most recently CPG announced a R 270 million warehouse development for PEP in Durban and the sale of a portfolio of properties held in partnership with Jonathan Beare’s Buffet Investments to SA Corporate Real Estate Fund for R 1.1 billion.

Arising from their activities in the property sector, Murray and Kenneth Collins became involved in a number of non-property private equity investments. Following the success of these investments, in August 2004 a decision was made to formalise the non-property assets into a new business and CPE was formed.

The transactions that CPE has been involved with and invested in include the following:
  • the management buy-out of Eveready batteries’ SA operations from Gillette (www.eveready.co.za);
  • seed capital funding for Rodel Financial Services, a company that funds public liability claims (www.rodel.co.za);
  • seed capital funding for Afrika Biopharma Investments, a black-owned and managed pharmaceutical investment company which subsequently bought Biotech Laboratories (www.biotech.co.za); and
  • the LBO of stainless steel vehicle accessory manufacturer Maxe (www.maxe.co.za).
CPE is run by Bruce Chelius, an experienced Private Equity investor. In addition, the services of Peter Dawe, a highly regarded corporate lawyer, have been retained by CPE in order to deal will all the legal aspects of the investments.

CPE has been very involved in the development of Maxe and the subsequent creation of Autovest. During 2006 Bruce Chelius spent a period of 6 months as acting MD of Maxe while searching for a suitable person to run the business. During this period CPE developed a good understanding of the needs of the automotive accessories market and identified the opportunity to consolidate a number of accessories businesses as a result of which CPE has played a key role in the development and execution of Autovest’s strategy to date. CPE will continue to be involved with Autovest, demonstrated by Bruce Chelius’ appointment as a non-executive director with a mandate to look for acquisition opportunities that are in line with Autovest’s strategic plan.

The medium term success of Autovest will be determined by ensuring that the right businesses are acquired at the right price and using the right structures. In this regard CPE has the relevant contacts, skills and experience.
Nedbank Capital Private Equity
Nedbank Capital Private Equity co-invested with CPE in the acquisition of Maxe Stainless Steel CC in 2005. The involvement of an institutional private equity investor in Maxe has ensured that the business has been run to the highest standards of corporate ethics and that all the necessary governance functions, including a properly constituted Board, Remuneration Committee and Audit Committee are in place and functioning effectively. As a joint founding shareholder of Autovest, Nedbank Capital Private Equity will continue to work with Autovest and operational subsidiaries to enhance good corporate governance practices, to ensure that balance sheet funding is optimised and to add strategic value throughout the group.
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