Lobel’s bread private limited is a manufacturing company that specializes in the production and retailing of bread and confectionery foods.
Formed in 1957 by the Lobel`s, the company has through the years been recognized for the renowned quality of its products.
The company was formed in Bulawayo by the Lobel’s family but it moved to Harare in 1959 through acquisition of its pockets by Northwest and London Bakeries.
Over the years the company managed to maintain the quality of its product and therefore the superiority of its brand.
This did not stop in 2002 when the company was acquired by CEUVOST which carried the legendary aspect of the brand and worked to ensure that the brand achieved its vision of being the most preferred in Zimbabwe.
By 2004, the Lobel’s Brand commanded 40% of the market in Harare alone and during the same year the company managed to re-open its operations in Bulawayo.
This enabled the company to increase its overall daily capacity to 300 000 loaves per day.
Mismanagement and capital constrains tangled the company into debt owing a group of banks huge sums of money which it could not pay back.
In the year 2010 the company was massively crippled in debt which largely impacted on its ability to pay workers, bills and even acquiring the basic raw materials.
The banks that had landed their moneys to the company sought to find an alternative way of recovering their money without necessarily attaching the company’s assets hence the formation of Altiwave, an investment vehicle that commanded almost 100% of the company’s shareholding structure.
Altiwave comprising of five banks namely CBZ, FBC, NMB,Metropolitan Bank and Capital Bank signed the scheme of arrangement in the High Court of Zimbabwe which allowed the investment group to pour funds into Lobel’s Bread to rejuvenate it and recover their money.
In this regard, Altiwave injected over US$4.5 million which resuscitated the struggling Lobel’s before they started recovering the money owed to them.
Under the scheme of arrangement,Altiwave was expected to control the company over a period of five years within which it was expected to have resurrected the company, recover its money and exit.
To lubricate the scheme of arrangement, Altiwave installed production equipment and made repairs to the old machinery which improved the daily capacity.
A new management Team led by Chief Executive Officer Mr.N Mazango was also appointed to facilitate the successful implementation of the scheme of arrangement.
Five years later, the scheme of arrangement proved to be a success as the company regained its position in the market and had paid off a greater proportion of its debt and time had come for Altiwave to exit Lobel’s Bread.
A due diligence was done which saw Takura Investments with CEO Sindiso Masuku being identified as the most suitable investor to take over Lobel’s Bread in 2015 putting an end to the scheme of arrangement.
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