adminLovemore Zigara Business Correspondent
ANCHOR Holdings is targeting the regional market following the successful conclusion of the 60 percent takeover deal on its subsidiary, Anchor Yeast, by French-owned Societe Industrielle Lesaffre.
The local holding company, which is owned by Michael Nyabadza, has interests in manufacturing, mining, property, agriculture among other sectors of the economy.
Chairman Ben Samudzimu said ceding a controlling stake to the French conglomerate had positioned the firm for regional expansion.
“The agreement we’ve with Lesaffre is that they’ll have a management contract for the partnership but the spinoff we’ve in this relationship is that we’ve a corporate opportunities agreement that allows us with Lesaffre to expand together as a partnership into the region,” he said.
“So if we invest in another country, we go together as a partnership. At the moment it’s too early to disclose how we’re going to move forward but prospects of expanding are already there.”
Samudzimu said Lesaffre, which controls 60 percent of the world market, seeks to use Zimbabwe as a springboard to set its footprint in the southern and eastern Africa market, which has been mainly dominated by companies in South Africa.
The French company has its presence in North and West Africa where it is operating in Algeria, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Cote d’Ivoire.
Samudzimu said following the takeover of Anchor Yeast, which is set to rebrand to Lesaffre Zimbabwe, Anchor Holdings would rebrand and assume a new identity.
“Anchor Yeast and the anchor brand have been consumed by this transaction so we’re going to rebrand the holding company and all our subsidiaries from Anchor Agriculture. So we’re going to change the Anchor name and rebrand as well,” he said.
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