Vunani Capital Holdings, a new black-owned financial services company, said yesterday that it had raised more than R7 billion on the bond market in the past 18 months for the City of Johannesburg, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Absa and DaimlerChrysler.
Meaning "harvest" in isiZulu, Vunani has been born out of the management buyout of African Harvest Capital and is 80 percent black owned.
Vunani chief executive Ethan Dube, who was the founder of African Harvest six years ago, said the name change was necessary to prevent confusion between its businesses and that of African Harvest Fund Managers, which has been retained by Metallon Capital.
Mzi Khumalo's Metallon sold 20 to 25 percent of African Harvest Capital and African Harvest Securities to management and staff of the respective companiesin November.
Driven by African Harvest Capital's four key executives - Ethan Dube, Butana Khoza, Nkosi Gugushe and Mark Anderson - Vunani aimed to be an active participant in the advising and structuring of black economic empowerment deals.
Dube said the company's bread and butter came from its corporate finance activities but there were a number of strategic initiatives in the pipeline.
The company has struck a strategic alliance with Glenhove Fund Managers, an independent black majority-owned private equity fund manager.
Wendy Luhabe is both a shareholder and director of Glenhove and her consortium controls the Women's Private Equity Fund, which is a joint venture with Glenhove.
"The Glenhove Private Equity deal is just one of the first to be bedded down. It's an important part of our financial services strategy and provides a good cross-flow of deals and other services for our group," Dube said in a statement.
Vunani has acquired a 35 percent equity interest in Resource Finance Advisors, a corporate finance advisory company, and a 26 percent equity stake in Papillon In Flight, the producer of a range of ready-made meals to Air Chefs and supermarket chains Pick 'n Pay and Spar.
It said it had also added four "landmark" buildings in Cape Town's central business district to its property portfolio, which holds property investments in excess of R150 million.