Anirep buys into HopSol

June 2, 2020

Anirep buys into HopSol

LISTED investment company Alpha Namibia Industries Renewable Power Limited (Anirep), has bought up 80% of HopSol Africa (Pty) Ltd for N$56 million.

This was announced by the company last week, with the release of their 2020 financial statements, which showed the company made a loss of N$825 000 for the year ending February.

Incorporated in 2018, the 2020 financial year marks two years of Anirep’s existence – with a balance sheet of over N$164 million at year end.

Major shareholders in Anirep include the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) and South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC).

PIC is the investment arm of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The two pension funds own 82%, with the GIPF having the face value control of 51,8%.

Anirep is chaired by former GIPF principal officer Primus Hango.

According to financial statements, interest earned during the year stood at N$4,3 million and were matched with an administration and other expenses figure of N$5 million, leading to the loss of N$825 000.

The deal to buy into HopSol was announced in January this year as the quest to find viable assets took off.

Two assets were identified – HopSol Power Generation (Pty) Ltd and HopSol Africa (Pty) Ltd.

The two companies operate in the solar industry and Anirep decided to buy into them to gain a competitive edge on Namibia’s solar power industry.

According to Anirep, the plan was and is to acquire 80% of HopSol Africa and 70% of HopSol Power Generation for a combined N$144 million.

As of 1 April HopSol Africa’s shares were transferred to Anirep, while the HopSol Power Generation deal is yet to be concluded.

HopSol Africa’s 2019 revenue stood at N$90 million and its net profit was N$8,8 million.

The company has contracts with 27 clients.

Anirep is a capital pool company, and the first energy company to list on the NSX’s development capital board.

The asking price as of last Friday was N$10 per share. Anirep is not that popular on the NSX, and only six deals have been recorded since they listed in September last year to the end of April.