DTRT, West Africa’s largest clothing manufacturer, announces investment from Verod Capital and Red Bull

West Africa’s largest clothing manufacturer, DTRT Apparel Ltd (DTRT), today announced a major investment from leading investment firm Verod Capital Management and Red Bull GmbH, in a transformative deal for the West African apparel industry.

DTRT supplies cost-competitive products to major US and EU-based brands via a global network spanning three continents. The company employs over 2,000 people in West Africa, procures textiles from Asia and exports primarily to the EU and US markets, benefiting from supportive trade arrangements between the US/EU and Ghana.

The investment is a massive boost for apparel manufacturing in West Africa. Verod Capital is investing alongside a major strategic investor, Red Bull, the $7 billion producer of Red Bull energy drinks and one of the most innovative marketers in the world. Red Bull will be an anchor customer for DTRT, and DTRT will be a part of Red Bull’s global apparel sourcing operations.

DTRT Apparel was founded in 2013 by two apparel industry entrepreneurs in a joint venture with a renowned Ghanaian fashion entrepreneur, Mrs Salma Salifu, Managing Director of Dignity DTRT, the company’s manufacturing partner. Founded on a commitment to “Do the right thing”, the company is an industry leader in sustainability and has a Gold-level Certificate from the Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) organisation, verifying the company’s commitment to ethical manufacturing and employment practices. DTRT provides access to training and healthcare.

Environmental sustainability is also at the core of the DTRT business model. The business works with suppliers to produce a polyester fabric that requires 80% less water for dyeing than the traditional fabric-dyeing process. DTRT estimates they have saved over 200,000,000 litres of water over the last five years using this fabric. As a small example of its efforts to support its community, the Company utilises leftover fabric from production for conversion into reusable sanitary pads that are then provided free of charge to lower-income people in the nearby community.

Skip Richmond, co-founder and co-CEO of DTRT Apparel, said: “Given today’s global macroeconomics, apparel brands are increasingly looking for cost-competitive, socially responsible, long-term manufacturing alternatives outside Asia. This milestone deal is an affirmation of our vision of sustainable apparel manufacturing in Ghana – with the highest production, environmental and labour standards – and allows us to significantly expand our production capacity and capabilities to make DTRT Africa’s leading apparel manufacturer. We’re very excited to work with our partners and strategic investors to drive growth and provide our value-added services on a larger scale to current and future customers”.

Danladi Verheijen, Verod Managing Director, said: “Verod Capital’s investment in DTRT is predicated on the very rapid growth of the Ghanaian economy, due largely to its political stability, and Ghana’s unique advantages for cost-competitive production. The DTRT team are highly experienced operators who are also 100% committed to improving the lives of West Africans, which aligns with the mission of Verod Capital. We look forward to working with the Founders to build up this business, but also to help West Africa become a major hub for apparel manufacturing.”

ENDS

ABOUT DTRT http://www.dtrtapparel.com/

DTRT Apparel is a Ghana-based apparel manufacturer and exporter founded in 2013. The business employs over 2,000 staff, mostly women, at its facility in Accra and exports to customers in the US and the EU. The business has a rich pipeline of customers that can drive sales north of $100M in a few years. The company recently raised money from outside investors and is currently owned by the Founders, Verod Capital and RedBull GmbH. The Founders, Marc Hansult and Skip Richmond, were the former COO and CFO for a Hong Kong-based apparel company with over $100M in revenues. They founded DTRT in 2013, intending to build a sustainable enterprise that exceeds the typical labour, environmental and employment standards found in the apparel manufacturing industry.

ABOUT VEROD CAPITAL http://www.verod.com/

Verod Capital is a Private Equity firm focused on investing equity and equity-linked capital in growth companies across various sectors, primarily in Anglophone West Africa. Verod seeks to partner with companies led by strong, result-driven management teams able to grow large, sustainable and dominant enterprises. Verod manages over $200 million in assets and has invested in 18 middle-market high-growth companies. Verod has been recognised by Private Equity Africa Awards as an “Outstanding New Fund Manager” and was named as one of the Top 20 Africa-focused PE Funds to watch in 2016.

ABOUT RED BULL https://energydrink.redbull.com/

Founded in 1984, Red Bull GmbH is an Austrian company that produces the signature Red Bull energy drink. The company is known for its innovative marketing and sponsorship of a range of sporting events and teams. In 2018, a total of 6.8 billion cans of Red Bull were sold worldwide in over 171 countries. The headquarters of Red Bull GmbH are in Fuschl am See, Austria.

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Louis Wilson

lwilson@mercuryllc.com