Abraaj invests in Tunisia’s personal care product firm SAH

January 25, 2016 - Algeria

The Abraaj Group, a leading investor operating in global growth, has acquired a stake in Société d’Articles Hygiéniques (SAH), a leading producer of disposable household and personal care products for babies, women and adults in Tunisia.

Abraaj acquired a 49 per cent stake in JM Holding, the company that holds a majority share in SAH.

Abraaj and SAH are partnering to consolidate the Company’s market position and expand its footprint across Sub-Saharan Africa by enhancing its distribution models, improving production efficiency and focusing on product innovation. With Abraaj’s support, the Company plans to build manufacturing plants in Western Africa to facilitate its growth. From a health, environmental and governance perspective, Abraaj will work with SAH to enhance safety standards and environmental performance in the production plants, and further institutionalise the business by enhancing its management processes and reporting mechanisms, according to a press release.

Adel Goucha, managing director at The Abraaj Group said, “We are impressed with SAH’s management team, led by Ms. Jalila Mezni, and the Company’s strong track record since inception. SAH possesses a strong brand in Tunisia, and together, we intend to continue building the Lilas brand across Africa. We look forward to leveraging our global network and experience in the consumer sector to support SAH in actively driving its growth agenda from both a strategic and operational capacity.”

Jalila Mezni, founder and CEO of SAH said, “This is an opportune time for us to further expand across Africa. We will continue to augment our management team and enhance our distribution network to support our expansion, in addition to focusing on product innovation to develop high quality household and personal care products for babies, women and adults. We are confident that Abraaj is the ideal partner to help us achieve our goals.” (GK)