AIH Fund I, under the management of private equity fund manager AIH Capital, has closed a second deal with High Duty Castings (HDC), resulting in the fund now owning 49% of the manufacturing company.

HDC is a producer of grey iron castings for industry-specific products, such as pumps and valves, gearboxes, engineering compressors and hydraulics and bearings, as well as components for use in the automotive, agriculture and railway sectors.

HDC’s automotive division is International Automotive Task Force 16949:2016 certified.

AIH says this investment positions HDC for continued success through its innovative metal casting techniques that “uniquely offer high-quality products at competitive prices”.

It notes that, in the manufacturing industry, HDC is more employment-intensive as part of the supply chain, which is predominantly local and includes metal scrap dealers, silica sand miners and other industrial companies.

“We are super excited about AIH Capital joining our family and quite flattered too. We had such a good gut feeling about Jesmane and Sindi right from our first meeting and, having gotten to know them better over the past few months, we are sure that their professional experience and fresh perspectives are going to add tremendous value to HDC.

“I also love that this new partnership will water down some of the testosterone in the South African foundry industry,” says HDC MD and shareholder Bradley Venter.

Sindi Mabaso-Koyana and Jesmane Boggenpoel are AIH Capital co-founders and managing partners.

AIH Capital says it brings its broad-based black economic empowerment shareholding and gender lens, together with expertise in governance and a deeply entrenched network that will enhance the business development of HDC.

“HDC is a second generation family business that is well positioned for growth with localisation of the supply chain and mechanisation. We see excellent opportunity in partnering with HDC in this next phase of growth”, says Boggenpoel.