Vantage Capital (www.VantageCapital.co.za), Africa’s largest mezzanine debt fund manager, announced that it has made a R346m investment into Procera Group (Pty) Limited (“Procera”), a leading South African business process outsourcing (BPO) services provider serving both South African and international clients.

Vantage’s investment comprises of the acquisition of a significant minority equity stake from the Procera founders as well as the provision of a mezzanine facility to support future strategic acquisitions by Procera.

Founded in 1990 as a debt recovery solutions provider, over the last three decades Procera has evolved into an integrated BPO services group offering support solutions to its clients via several distinct brands along the customer life cycle. Procera currently services over 50 local and international blue-chip clients across key industries such as Retail, Financial Services, Energy and Telecommunications in geographies including South Africa, Namibia, United Kingdom, United States and Australia.

Procera’s investment into its proprietary contact centre software, deployment of emerging technologies such as predictive analytics, generative AI and omnichannel communications continue to improve productivity and the customer experience. With over 2700 employees, Procera is a significant driver of impact through employment, training and skills development, especially for women and youth in the communities within which it operates.

South Africa is consistently ranked in the top two BPO locations globally driven by factors including customer experience supported by an empathetic English-speaking workforce and cultural affinity to various source markets, a favourable time zone, and its abundance of youth talent. The South African BPO market is expected to achieve a 13% CAGR over the next five years ahead of global growth forecasts for the sector of 8.5% CAGR. The sustained global growth is driven primarily by corporates seeking to effectively manage costs and streamline business functions.

Roshal Ramdenee, Associate Partner at Vantage Capital, said “Vantage sees a tremendous opportunity for both job creation as well as a positive economic impact as Procera continues its rapid international expansion and drives market leading technological solutions in the BPO space. Vantage is proud to partner with a very capable management team and committed long term investors.”

Warren van der Merwe, Managing Partner at Vantage Capital, added “It is rare in the current economic environment to find fast-growing South African businesses and ones that are truly competitive in developed markets.  Procera’s founders, shareholders and management team have built an admirable business to date, and we are excited to invest into Procera’s next stage of growth and development.”

Crispin Sonn, Chairman at Procera added “We are very pleased to have the long-term support of Vantage and its team of seasoned investors as we look to grow the Procera’s business services footprint into international markets.”

PWC acted as financial advisor to the transaction, Werksmans acted as legal counsel for Vantage. Other advisors to the transaction included Step Advisory, Ernst and Young, Webber Wentzel, Eversheds, STBB, and IBIS Consulting.