OM Private Equity exits MoreCorp to RMB Ventures after a decade of significant growth

Cape Town - Old Mutual Private Equity ("OMPE"), a part of Old Mutual Alternative Investments, has agreed to sell its investment in MoreCorp to RMB Ventures, marking the conclusion of a decade-long partnership that has seen the South African sports and leisure group triple turnover over OMPE's investment tenure.

OMPE acquired a majority stake  in MoreCorp in 2015, partnering with the founder of Morecorp, Darryl Egdes, and the rest of the management team. At the time, the investment thesis centered on a well-established, entrepreneurial business with leading positions in golf and cycling, an experienced management team, and the opportunity to benefit from golf and cycling becoming broader, more accessible lifestyle categories, and consumers increasingly seeking experiences, communities and services around the sports in which they participate.

Over the subsequent decade, OMPE worked alongside management to scale and institutionalise the business, providing support, strategic input and capital to build and grow its cycling platform and to expand the broader MoreCorp ecosystem.

Chumani Kula, Co-Head of Old Mutual Private Equity, said the investment demonstrated the role private equity can play in helping entrepreneurial businesses move into their next phase of growth.

"When we invested in MoreCorp in 2015, we saw a strong entrepreneurial business with leading positions in attractive specialist markets and significant potential to scale in partnership with a high-quality management team. MoreCorp has since evolved from a collection of strong specialist retail businesses into a broader sports and leisure platform. Our role has been to support that evolution with capital, strategic input, and governance. Over the past decade, the group's turnover has tripled. As we exit, the business has greater scale, a stronger institutional foundation and several avenues through which it can continue to grow."

During OMPE's ownership, MoreCorp expanded both organically and through strategic acquisitions. These acquisitions included SAIL, which strengthened the group's exposure to sports commercialisation, InfoMasters and ScoreCapture, which enhanced its digital capabilities, and Global Golf Retail, which expanded The Pro Shop's presence through outlets located at golf courses. Additional growth came from developing concepts like HotShots and GolfTEC.

OMPE also provided capital and strategic support to grow MoreCorp's cycling platform and strengthen the wider ecosystem around its retail brands.

Today, MoreCorp operates across golf, cycling, sports commercialisation, e-commerce and related leisure services.

Its golf businesses include The Pro Shop, which operates 11 retail Superstores and 29 on-course stores, The Pro Shop Corporate, World of Golf, Golf Villages and PlayMoreGolf, an online platform providing members with access to golf at more than 100 courses across South Africa.

Its cycling operations include Cycle Lab, a specialist cycling retailer with 10 company-owned Superstores, the Cycle Lab Skills and Adventure Park in Bryanston, Johannesburg and a national cycling membership offering, cycling events and tours and access to multiple bike parks.

Both the Golf and cycling communities are supported by MyGolfLife and MyCycleLife, industry leading reward and engagement platforms. Flook Sport & Travel also forms part of the MoreCorp stable, offering sport-centered and other leisure travel packages, apparel and accessories.

MoreCorp CEO and founder Darryl Egdes said OMPE's involvement had supported the company through an important period in its development.

"The past ten years have been transformational for MoreCorp. Our partnership with OMPE gave us the support and capital to invest with a longer-term perspective, build out our cycling platform, pursue strategic acquisitions and strengthen the systems and governance required for a business of our scale. Most importantly, we were able to do that while retaining the entrepreneurial culture that has always been central to MoreCorp."

Egdes said the transaction with RMB Ventures represented the beginning of the next phase for the group.

"We have built a much larger and more diversified business, and we continue to see considerable opportunity across the markets in which we operate. We look forward to working with RMB Ventures as we build on the platform created over the past decade and pursue the next stage of MoreCorp's growth."

Andrew Aitken, Senior Partner at RMB Ventures, said the transaction reflects RMB Ventures' conviction in MoreCorp's distinctive customer ecosystem value proposition and management-led growth opportunity.

"More than ever, people seek outdoor experiences. Whether it's a round of golf, a weekend mountain bike trail with friends, or the atmosphere of a live concert, these experiences matter — and so does the sense of belonging they help to create. This is precisely what makes MoreCorp an attractive value proposition for RMB Ventures. It is a business built around delivering these experiences and making them more accessible and affordable for a broader range of consumers. This shared vision with management underpins what we know will be a great partnership. This partnership is also anchored by a reinvestment by all existing management and is bolstered by fresh investment from a significant group of new executives. This investment reflects our desire to partner to create exceptional and lasting value - for MoreCorp, its people, customers and broader stakeholders."

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals for transactions of this nature.

OMPE and MoreCorp were advised by Rothschild & Co as transaction advisor and Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr as legal advisor.