Cambria Africa plc

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  09/05/13

  Cambria Africa to grow Payserv through new financing

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  01/05/13

  UPDATE: Cambria Africa extends maturity of debt

  Zimbabwe-focused Cambria Africa has successfully extended by more than two years the maturity of US$4.5mln debt financing with Consilium Investment Management. The repayment date moves out to April 2016 from March 2014, which strengthens the company’s balance sheet.

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  18/04/13

  Cambria Africa has reached a turning point, says broker

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  16/04/13

  Cambria Africa’s strategic overhaul drives significant improvement in H1

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  02/04/13

  Zimbabwe's recovery marks another positive step

  Lifting of the majority of EU sanctions in Zimbabwe marks another positive step in the African nation’s economy, and promises to boost its businesses.

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  08/03/13

  Cambria Africa's efforts to re-shape its businesses are bearing fruit, says broker

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  28/02/13

  Cambria Africa results reflect significant changes in the business

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  19/02/13

  Cambria Africa poised for Zambia entry after debt deal

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  15/02/13

  UPDATE: Cambria Africa sells ‘non-core’ ForgetMeNot Africa stake

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  15/02/13

  Cambria Africa sells ‘non-core’ ForgetMeNot Africa stake

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  18/04/13

  Proactive news summary including W Resources, Antrim Energy, Stratex International and Mandalay Resources
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  16/04/13

  Proactive news summary, including Tissue Regenix, Fusion IP and EMED Mining
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  16/04/13

  Broker Round-up: West African Minerals, Rambler Metals & Mining, Diamondcorp, Cambria Africa, Falkland Oil & Gas
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  15/02/13

  Proactive news summary, featuring Condor Gold, Advanced Computer Software, ECR Minerals

The Company’s investment objective is to provide Shareholders with long term capital appreciation through the investment of its capital primarily in Zimbabwe.

Cambria does not have a particular sectoral focus.  Its key objective is building a portfolio of companies that are well-positioned to benefit from Zimbabwe’s economic growth and from formalization and modernization of Zimbabwe’s economy.  Moreover, Cambria seeks investments that have current sector leadership in Zimbabwe or, in Cambria’s view; will be able to achieve this.

Cambria generally seeks control as it prefers to become actively involved in the companies it acquires.  For example, assisting in setting focused strategic objectives, building “first class” management teams, creating globally focused companies and efficiently deploying the necessary funds to build on, or achieve leading market positions and thereby the associated higher margins. 

Cambria’s approach is a fusion between a conglomerate and a publicly traded private equity firm. It has the long term perspective of a ‘going concern’ and seeks the value enhancing, efficiencies of an investment company.  Even though within Cambria investments are referred to as ‘subsidiaries’ and Cambria seeks synergies between its subsidiaries, Cambria has the discipline to enter and exit investments when appropriate for maximizing shareholder returns.

Paynet

Paynet Group is Zimbabwe’s leading Business Process Outsourcing service provider, with a particularly strong presence in the financial services sector.  Current offerings include Zimbabwe’s leading payment switching provider (Paynet), the country’s largest commercial salary bureau (AutoPay), and Zimbabwe’s only outsourced loan processing service (Tradanet).

Through its Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system, Paynet provides EDI SWITCH services to all banks in Zimbabwe, and over 1,000 corporate and institutional customers nationwide.  EDI transactions include salary transfers, supplier / trade payments, direct debits, stop orders as well as payment schedules and statements. 

To read more please click here.

Leopard Rock Hotel & Resort

The Leopard Rock Hotel is a four star, 58-room hotel, resort and casino set in the Bvumba Mountains in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. It is an iconic destination within Southern Africa with a rich history – The Queen Mother remarked, after all, that ‘surely there is no place more beautiful in Africa’.

Since  acquisition in 2009 by Cambria, the hotel has undergone significant refurbishment, as well as staff upgrades, and it is now restored to its former glory and is well up to par with current international standards. Completion of the refurbishment has led to superior occupancy and improved room rates.

For more information please click here.

Millchem

With Cambria’s assistance, Millchem has become, amongst others, Zimbabwe’s leading distributor of industrial solvents and metal treatment products. The company was established in 1986 as Millpal and rebranded to Millchem in 2011.

Building on 25 years of supply and delivery to Zimbabwe’s industrial companies in the paints, inks and coatings, plastics, textile, automotive, and household products sectors, and now mining, Millchem has established itself as the preferred value-added chemicals distributor in Zimbabwe.

For more information please click here.

ForgetMeNot Africa

ForgetMeNot Africa Ltd. is a "software as a service" (SaaS) company specialising in unified messaging that supports seamless interoperability between SMS, email, social networking and Instant Messaging clients for telecommunications operators. The core product is Message Optimiser which allows telecom operators to immediately provide cost-effective comprehensive unified messaging services to all of their customers without any upgrades to the device or any need for downloading new applications onto the device. This opens up a range of previously inaccessible services to many of their customers including 2-way email and 2-way instant messaging communication capability.

To read more please click here.

Celsys

Celsys Limited, listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, has been transformed by Cambria from being the country’s largest private sector security printer into arguably one of Zimbabwe’s best equipped commercial printers, both in terms of capacity and diversity.  As such, it has become one of the leaders in the commercial printing arena in the country. In addition, Celsys continues to produce security documents such as cheque books, share certificates and deposit books for the majority of commercial banks and financial institutions, in Zimbabwe.

For more information please click here.

CES Zimbabwe

CES Zimbabwe develops and delivers IT outsourcing for small, medium and large enterprise companies looking to optimize their IT investment whilst simultaneously, reducing costs and allowing management to focus on their core business. As a Dell Certified Partner, a Microsoft  Gold Certified Partner, an HP Preferred Partner and an authorised partner for CISCO networking systems, Avaya VoIP solutions, Riverbed WAN optimization products and APC/ MGE UPS Systems, CES is the premium supplier of  IT  equipment with Zimbabwe.

To read more please click here.

Ian Perkins - Non-Executive Director and Chairman

Ian Perkins has over 40 years' London City experience. Until 1991 he was at James Capel & Co. where he was a Director and Head of Fixed Income. Between 1991 and 1996, Ian was Director and later Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of listed bank King & Shaxson Holdings plc. When Gerrard Group acquired King & Shaxson in 1996, Ian became a Director of Gerrard Group plc and Chairman of the Gerrard & King bank. Following Gerrard Group’s takeover by the Old Mutual Group in 2000, he became a Director of Old Mutual Financial Services plc, and the CEO and later Chairman of GNI Limited until 2003.  Thereafter until 2010, Ian was Chairman of fixed income and inter-dealer broking firm King & Shaxson Limited.

Paul Turner - Non-Executive Director and Deputy Chairman

Paul Turner is a Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe. He is a highly respected and knowledgeable member of the Zimbabwean business community. Paul was previously a Senior Partner at Ernst & Young in Harare, Zimbabwe for over thirty years and brings an unparalleled level of experience in the structure and operation of businesses in Zimbabwe. Paul is a qualified Chartered Accountant, registered both in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Edzo Wisman - Director and Chief Executive Officer

Prior to joining Cambria in 2010, Edzo Wisman was Managing Director of Stuart Lammert & Co., a Toronto and New York based corporate advisory firm that he founded in 2003.  Prior, Edzo was a Vice President; Investment Banking with Toronto based CCFL Advisory Services. Previously, he was with Wilshire Associates; first with the consultancy practice in Amsterdam, servicing some of Europe's largest institutional investors; and then with the Private Markets Group at Wilshire’s Santa Monica, California headquarters, seeking opportunities in the leveraged buyout markets. Edzo has also worked with the investment department of the pension funds of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. He holds a Doctorandus degree in Business Economics from the University of Groningen. He has published a number of papers on the buyout markets and corporate governance issues.

Tania Sanders - Chief Financial Officer

Tania Sanders previously held increasingly senior roles within finance and IT with Anheuser-Busch Europe Ltd., culminating in her role as European IS Manager.  Previously, Tania was a Senior Audit Manager with Deloitte (South Africa) in Cape Town, focusing on large multinational listed clients in the automotive, maritime, mining and leisure sectors. Tania is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from University of Cape Town and a Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting from the University of South Africa.

Fred Jones - Non-Executive Director

Fred Jones is the Chairman of Jutland Group; a private Hong Kong based investment management and commodity firm which he founded in 2006 to manage portfolios of foreign exchange, precious metals and international debt. Fred also founded Jaramcor International, a commodity supply-chain manager and supplier of pulp/paper, chemicals and agricultural products. He was previously Vice President, Private Client Services, at Bear Stearns Global Wealth Management. Fred was also with the International Private Client Group of Merrill Lynch. He holds a BSc in Accountancy and an MBA in Finance from Florida A&M University.

Paul Heber - Non-Executive Director

Paul Heber is an investment manager and stockbroker with more than 20 years’ experience in global stock markets, following 3 years in the oil industry. Formerly with SGHambros, NatWest and WI Carr, he is now with bespoke boutique Savoy Investment Management. Savoy has in excess of GBP 1.2 billion of private and institutional funds under management and is regulated by both the FSA in London and the FSB in Johannesburg. Paul has a broad pan-African clientele alongside his domestic UK, European and Bermudian business. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Securities Institute (“CFSI”) in London.

Itai Mazaiwana - Non-Executive Director

Itai Mazaiwana started his career in research and education at the Institute of Mining Research at the University of Zimbabwe as an Analytical Geochemist. During his subsequent career in the private sector, Itai held senior positions in the mining and chemicals industries at ZISCO Steel, Anacal Laboratory, Ardington Exploration, and Polokwane Chemicals (South Africa). Itai is currently a director of Jeune Zimbabwe, Mining and Infrastructure Development Corporation, a joint venture between Jeune and the Government of Zimbabwe  and Pan-African Energy Resources, a consortium of European and Zimbabwean engineers and scientists developing a 2000MW power station. In recent years, Itai has acted as a technical adviser to, Orange Advisory Alliance (South Africa), Lineband/Scores Mining, and New Frontier Partners Zimbabwe. The latter organisation promotes local participation in Zimbabwe’s mining and energy sectors. Itai holds a BSc in Chemistry and Geology and a MSc in Analytical Chemistry, both from the University of Zimbabwe. He has published a number of papers on low level detection of gold.

Nyaradzo Mudzamiri - Corporate Strategy and Development

Prior to joining Cambria, Nyaradzo Mudzamiri was with KPMG Corporate Finance in Johannesburg (South Africa) and Harare (Zimbabwe), focussing on Mergers & Acquisitions, Valuations and Restructuring.  She has gained valuable experience across multiple sectors, working for local and international clients with operations in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Malawi and South Africa. Nyaradzo holds a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Economics from the University of Zimbabwe and a banking diploma awarded by the Institute of Bankers (Zimbabwe).

Roy Meiring - Chief Executive Officer, Hotels Division

Roy Meiring has over 35 years of experience in the hotel industry in Zimbabwe and the region. He undertook his initial hotel management training program at The Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg with Western International. In 1977, Roy joined Meikles Southern Sun Hotels and was General Manager of Troutbeck Inn. After five years with Meikles Southern Sun Hotels, he joined T.A. Holdings as Group Managing Director, managing Cresta Hotels and Safaris, with a presence in Zimbabwe, Botswana and the Region. Between 1992 and 2011, Roy was Chief Executive Officer of the Meikles Hotel Division (Meikles Ltd), which included The Meikles Hotel in Harare (Zimbabwe), Cape Grace in Cape Town (South Africa) and The Victoria Falls Hotel Partnership. The three hotels are members of the Leading Hotels of this World Group.

Roy is a Fellow of the Hotel Catering and Institutional Management U.K. (“FHCIMA”).

Updated from Cambria Africa website 11.06.2012