Crookes Brothers Limited has raised US$18m through an issue of shares to Silverlands Plantations

The shareholders of Crookes Brothers Limited have received a fairness opinion on a private equity investment into a Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed company.

Crookes Brothers Limited is a South African company with agricultural operations in the KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Western Cape provinces of South Africa, as well as in Swaziland, Zambia and Mozambique. Crookes Brothers is a producer of sugar cane, bananas, deciduous fruit and tree nuts.

Silverlands (SA) Plantations SARL, owned by the Silverlands Fund, is managed by SilverStreet Capital, a London-based private equity group. The Silverlands Fund is focused on investing in the agricultural sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Oaklins' member firm in South Africa advised Crookes Brothers' directors as an Independent expert to provide a fair and reasonable opinion on the transaction involving raising US$18 million through an issue of shares to Silverlands Plantations. Shares placed with Silverlands will, subsequent to Silverlands' subscription, be offered back to shareholders in terms of a claw-back/rights issue.