WINDHOEK - Valco Pipes is in the process of being acquired by Heat Exchange Products, a company founded by Henning Mercker and recently majority-owned by local private equity firm Eos Capital. The proposed acquisition is part of Eos Capital’s aggressive growth path in the water sector, which it believes to be one of the most attractive growth sectors over the medium-term.
When a company called Everite AC Pipes withdrew from the Namibian market during the early 1990s they were looking for an agent for their product range. It was then that Walter Behr of Valco Sales & Service saw the potential in the venture and established Valco Pipes in June 1996. Eric Detering joined the company in 1998 and the business soon became the leader in bulk water and reticulation pipe supply and has since expanded its product offering to include, amongst others, water meters and manhole covers. “A great part of our country’s water infrastructure was built with products supplied by us – a feat that we are very proud of,” says Eric Detering, the company’s managing member.
In the same vein the aim of Heat Exchange is to build an end-to-end Namibian water services and engineering company, offering its customers freedom of choice between a vast product and service portfolio. “Valco Pipes fits squarely into our vision and we are excited to have them on board,” said Mercker, CEO of Heat Exchange Products.
Once the acquisition is completed all employees will be retained, and Detering will still guide the business for a transition period of six months whereafter he intends to retire. The entire business is expected to relocate to the Heat Exchange Products premises, just a bit further down Simmentaler Road and will offer the same service to its customers.
According to Mercker, the business holds massive potential and will be more competitive with improved empowerment credentials and access to a wider and deeper stockholding of quality products for its customers.
Heat Exchange Products is a leading water treatment firm in Namibia offering water treatment solutions and related products to its customers.
Eos, which means ‘new dawn’ in Greek mythology, is an all-Namibian private equity fund manager led by experienced professionals with the former MD of Old Mutual Africa, Johannes !Gawaxab, serving as managing director. Nicole Maske brings significant strategic and financial experience to Eos, serving as Partner Value Add, and Ekkehard Friedrich, who brings considerable international transaction advisory experience, serves as Partner Investments.
Eos Capital was ranked by Emerging Markets Private Equity Association’s (EMPEA) as one of the top deal makers in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2016 and has invested in five Namibian companies to date.