Hogan Lovells advises FMO on its co-investment into Commercial Cold Holdings Limited

CCH is a South-African cold storage platform with a pan-African expansion strategy. CCH is on a path of acquiring and consolidating existing and greenfield businesses within the temperature-controlled logistics market, with a focus on storage. Its anchor investments are based in South-Africa and Namibia. CCH will pursue expansion beyond South Africa and Namibia into other countries across East, West and North Africa. A key positive impact will be the reduction of the carbon footprint associated with logistics of this nature in the region. This will be achieved by increasing the amount of renewable energy used to power the facilities and in some instances the use of CO2 as a refrigerant.

The co-investment, which closed on 7 July 2023, fits well with FMO’s strategy of pursuing impactful co-investments in its core focus sectors with partner fund managers. CCH will address a specific gap in the food supply chain by increasing cold storage capacity. Having an uninterrupted cold chain is vital to reduce food loss and waste, indirectly contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 2 (zero hunger). Through the provision of meaningful work during construction and operations, CCH will also improve livelihoods for those employed and contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 8 (decent work and economic growth). 

The Hogan Lovells Johannesburg-based corporate/M&A team was led by Chris Green, Office Managing Partner, and senior associate, Simone Izzard.