Helios Investment Partners has signed an agreement to acquire up to 49% of Stratton Africa Holdings Limited, the holding company that controls Merec Industries, considered Mozambique’s largest grain milling company. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2026 and is intended to drive the company’s expansion both domestically and across Southern Africa.

Helios Investment Partners, one of the leading private equity managers specialising in African markets, is seeking to acquire a stake of up to 49% in Stratton Africa Holdings Limited, which owns Merec Industries, through its Helios Fund V vehicle.

According to a joint statement from Helios Investment Partners and Invictus Investment, the agreement was signed on 21 October 2026. Completion of the transaction is expected by year-end, subject to the receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals and the fulfilment of customary closing conditions.

The transaction will allow Helios to enter the share capital of Stratton Africa Holdings Limited, a Mauritius-registered company that controls Merec Industries, while Invictus Investment will retain its majority position. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed by the parties involved.

Founded in 2004, Helios Investment Partners manages assets in excess of three billion dollars and is widely regarded as one of the leading private investment firms focused on Africa, with offices in London, Paris, Lagos, and Nairobi.

The firm’s entry into the group that controls Merec represents a new commitment to Mozambique’s food sector, particularly in a segment regarded as strategic for the supply of essential products and the development of the country’s processing industry.

Established in 1998, Merec Industries is one of the principal companies in Mozambique’s food manufacturing sector, with operations spanning the milling of wheat and maize and the production of flour, pasta, biscuits, and animal feed. The company operates industrial facilities and storage infrastructure in Maputo, Beira, and Nacala, as well as a grain terminal at the Port of Maputo, underpinning a significant role in the country’s national food supply chain.

Tope Lawani, co-founder and managing partner of Helios Investment Partners, highlighted Merec’s market position and the business’s growth potential. “Merec has built a distinctive position in Mozambique, with a national presence, strong brands, and an important role in the country’s staple food market,” he said in the joint statement.

According to Tope Lawani, the investment is consistent with Helios’s strategy of backing companies involved in the supply of essential goods that have the potential to grow and consolidate their presence across African markets. He added that the essential consumer goods sector represents “a core strategic focus” for the firm, which intends to draw on its experience in scaling African businesses to support Merec’s next phase of growth.

The strategy agreed by the shareholders envisages diversification into new food categories in Mozambique, as well as entry into other markets within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Invictus Investment, an Abu Dhabi-listed company specialising in agri-commodity trading, acquired Merec Industries in January 2025 as part of its expansion strategy into African markets with high growth potential.

Since the acquisition, the company has recorded, according to the joint statement, significant improvements in the miller’s operational performance, creating the conditions for a more ambitious expansion strategy. Amir Daoud Abdellatif, chief executive of Invictus Investment, believes the entry of Helios should accelerate this new growth phase, helping to broaden the company’s commercial footprint and strengthen its capacity to meet market demand.

The investors’ stated ambition is to transform Merec into a regional food platform, leveraging the industrial and logistics infrastructure already in place in Mozambique to expand operations across Southern Africa. The strategy also aims to reinforce the company’s contribution to food security and job creation through the development of new activities and the broadening of its commercial markets.

Upon completion of the transaction, Helios will become a shareholder in the structure that controls Merec, while Invictus will remain the majority shareholder, in a partnership oriented towards consolidating the company’s position in Mozambique’s food industry and advancing its regional expansion.