SAS buys South Africa's Afrikelp in sixth deal under Stirling Square
What's the deal? Sustainable Agro Solutions (SAS Group)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, backed by pan-European private equity firm Stirling Square Capital PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, has acquired a majority stake in AfrikelpDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a South African producer of seaweed-based biostimulants. Financial terms were not disclosed.
What each side brings: SAS Group develops biostimulants, soil improvers, and other nutritional products for agriculture. Afrikelp is one of the world's leading independent producers of high-value seaweed biostimulants, with uses across more than 45 crops and customers in over 55 markets.
Afrikelp's edge rests on an exclusive harvesting concession for the seaweed Ecklonia maxima and a patented cold micronisation process that yields a superconcentrated product. As part of the deal, its management team will reinvest a significant portion of the proceeds.
Why now? This is SAS Group's sixth acquisition, following BiovertDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (2023), Pevesa Agroscience (2024), Aqua do BrasilDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Codiagro (2025), and Ceres BioticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (2026). The run extends a buy-and-build strategy that began when Stirling Square took a majority stake in SAS in 2021.
What's the endgame? Afrikelp pushes SAS into South Africa and strengthens its specialisation in seaweed biostimulants, while adding research capabilities and access to the US and other key markets.
"Seaweed-based biostimulants are a strategic area of our product portfolio that we want to keep developing," said Xavier Mitjavila, chief executive officer of SAS Group. Afrikelp chief executive officer Dr. Nicole Hart called the move "a promising new chapter," citing SAS Group's presence in more than 100 countries.
The signal: The deal is another marker of consolidation in the fragmented biological inputs sector, as SAS assembles an international platform spanning Europe, Latin America, and now Africa.
Read more: capital-riesgo.es
Image credit: Bennilover
