Dislog Group is thinking big. To pursue its development through organic and external growth, the Group plans to strengthen its equity capital by 1 MMDH in 2024. In this exclusive interview, Moncef Belkhayat, the Group's CEO, announces that he will be raising funds for successive capital increases in 2024. This is one of the reasons why he has postponed the Group's IPO until the 4th quarter of 2026. He also points out that the training of Dislog Group's top management at the Essec business school is key to the group's success.
Why didn't Méditerranéa Capital exit via the stock market, as is usually the case in this type of transaction?
The first thing to understand is the rapid evolution of the Dislog Group over the last four years. We've gone from being a simple distributor to an industrial group specializing in fmcg (fast-moving consumer goods) & healthcare. We specialize in three business units: personal and home care, food and healthcare. We are now a resilient operator, developing around a hundred brands and operating in the life economy. The training of Dislog Group's top management, at the Essec business school, is the key to the group's success.
To answer your question about Mediteranea Capital Partners (MCP), the original plan was to go public in 2024. We jointly decided to postpone the project by two to three years. MCP has been, is and will continue to be a fantastic financial partner, with a 2.5% stake in our capital and, above all, a strong presence on our board in the persons of Saad Bendidi and Hatim Ben Ahmed.
Why did you opt for SPE, which was already in your round of financing?
SPE was a shareholder in H&S Invest holding and not in Dislog Group. They left the H&S Invest board in 2021 and are returning to Dislog Group in 2024. We welcome them to our board. Our group is still linked to SPE, since Nabil Triki, their Ceo and Managing Partner, remains a director of our family holding company H&S Invest.
He's seen us evolve rapidly and transform. I think he still sees growth potential in us, and that's why they're returning to our capital with a minority stake. With this transaction, our Group will have completed around ten private equity deals over the last 15 years. We have built up a great deal of credibility with PE funds, but also with their Lp's, who have seen us grow and are starting to take an interest in financing us directly.
What will be the role and impact of the new shareholder? Had the new shareholder left the table before this operation?
With SPE and MCP in our round table, the impact will be positive, enabling us firstly to continue to use the funds to make two major new acquisitions, and secondly to prepare for an IPO on the Casablanca Stock Exchange.
In your opinion, isn't the amount of the transaction underestimated?
The amount of the transaction, which will come in the form of a capital increase, is 450 million dirhams. We will continue to raise funds to exceed one billion dirhams in capital raising by 2024. We'll need to consolidate and integrate the companies we acquire, and prove our ability to create more value by putting them on the right track.
What explains the delay in Dislog's IPO? The market seems eager to welcome you...
We're just as eager to enter the market. We are in a phase of growth and development. Our financial advisors recommend that we stabilize our perimeter before making this IPO.
After the two new acquisitions planned for 2024 thanks to the SPE and other fund-raising campaigns, our management - whom I'd like to salute and thank - will consolidate our achievements and stabilize our scope of intervention in the three business units of food, hygiene and health.
Once again, we have become a resilient, brand-building industrial operator operating in the life economy. Our equity story is increasingly clear and attractive. We're delighted. See you then at the IPO in 2026, in the company of MCP, SPE and other institutional investors, I hope.
Moulay Ahmed Belghiti / ECO Inspirations
source : Exclusive. Dislog Group. Moncef Belkhayat: "Rendez-vous for the IPO in 2026" - LesEco.ma
