Global investor The Abraaj Group on Wednesday committed to boosting its newly acquired South African unlisted food and personal care manufacturer Liberty Star’s (Libstar’s) pan-African growth strategy.

Abraaj bought a majority stake in the nine-year-old fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) group and its subsidiary companies for an undisclosed amount this week.

The global investor said it would provide financial and operational support for Libstar’s pan-African growth strategy, which included the introduction of new product lines and the upgrade and expansion of existing Libstar plants.

“In partnership with Libstar’s management team, who have reinvested substantially, we believe we can help transform the company to become a truly pan-African leader in the food and retail services market.

“The market opportunity for food and other consumer staples in Africa promises huge potential for growth, driven by rapidly changing trends in consumer tastes and demand, as well as ongoing developments within the FMCG industry itself, such as the increased use of private labels,” said Abraaj MD Sandeep Khanna in a statement.

The 4 200 employee-strong Libstar, which manufactures a range of private label and own-branded products for the food, fast-casual dining, household and personal care sectors, targeted noncyclical markets and industries nationally through 23 business units across five provinces.

Libstar’s customers include McDonalds, Woolworths, Shoprite, Pick n Pay, Spar and Tiger Brands.

Abraaj committed to support Libstar’s buy and build strategy in the local market, particularly as the current $56-billion grocery retail and $14-billion food services markets were expected to grow at 7% and 9.5% a year until 2018.

“We look forward to adding our deep experience in helping accelerate the growth of our numerous FMCG and food businesses, not only across Africa but from our other growth markets as well,” added Abraaj partner and head of sub-Saharan Africa Davinder Sikand.