Norfund and Ethos Mezzanine Partners 3 Fund (a credit fund) have executed a USD 25mn mezzanine debt investment in Balaji Group, a textile manufacturing business based in Kenya.
Kenya’s textile and apparel sector is relatively underdeveloped and currently employs more than 50,000 workers, the majority of whom are women. And each investor has committed USD 12.5mn, which will be used to finance the replacement of an old washing facility with new washing machines, a move that is expected to increase manufacturing capacity by 300%, reduce electricity use by between 20% to 30%, water consumption by 70% and chemical use by 60%. The investment also supports further investments in sewing machines that will expand production capacity—it currently employs over 12,000 people and plans to hire 6,000 more direct workers, which in turn is expected to create another 6,000 indirect workers within the value chain.
About Balaji Group
The company has been operational for twenty-one years and is based in an export processing zone (EPZ) in Nairobi, from where it operates sub-Saharan Africa’s largest apparel manufacturing business for global brands and retailers, which are predominantly based in the US. It was founded by Pankaj and Amit Bedi.