Leopard Haiti Fund invests $ 1.7 million in Veerhouse Voda
Leopard Haiti Fund has invested $ 1.7 million in Veerhouse Voda that will fund the establishment of a local EPS factory in Haiti.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti – Leopard Capital announced today that it has provided USD 1,750,000 to Veerhouse Voda Haiti S.A. (“Veerhouse”), a manufacturer of eco-friendly, disaster-resilient buildings in Haiti. Veerhouse Voda’s’s affordable building solutions combine lightweight steel frames, expanded polystyrene (EPS) walls, and a patented mortar mix. This system produces a permanent structure highly resistant to earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, and floods, and naturally insulated from the tropical heat.
Leopard Capital’s investment in Veerhouse Voda will be made through Leopard Haiti Fund (“LHF”), and is in the form of a debt instrument with participation features. The investment will finance Veerhouse Voda’s establishment of a local factory in Haiti that will enable the company to improve its efficiency, cut its costs, fulfill orders quicker, and create jobs in a country with 60% unemployment.
Veerhouse Voda’s new factory will be based in northern Haiti in the Caracol Industrial Park, a major project supported by the Government of Haiti, the Inter-American Development Bank and the United States Government. The factory will produce prepre-engineeredfabricated residential and commercial buildings as well as EPS products for the local market. Veerhouse Voda’s new factory and business expansion is projected to create over 80 direct 83 and 2,000 indirect new jobs.
Mr. Douglas Clayton, Chief Executive Officer of Leopard Capital, commented: “We are pleased to support Veerhouse Voda in making Haiti a safer place to live and work. Veerhouse has been importing their system into Haiti for two years and their early customers rave about the product. This is a perfect solution for Caribbean living as the buildings are easy to assemble, affordable, cool inside, and nearly indestructible.”
Mr. Brendon Brewster, Managing Partner and CEO and Director of Veerhouse Voda Haiti S.A., added:
“We are very pleased to partner with Leopard Capital, in order to bring unique technology and building materials to the marketplace.
This partnership demonstrates Veerhouse Voda and Leopard Capital’s commitment to delivering innovative disaster resilient products and to promote affordable housing to tackle Haiti’s current housing and building crisis.
In addition, this partnership will create new jobs teaching by and bringing world-class manufacturing operations to the island.”
About Veerhouse Voda Haiti S.A. (www.veerhousevoda.com)
Veerhouse Voda Haiti SA produces disaster resilient buildings and building materials using a patented combination of expanded polystyrene (EPS) walls, steel and motarmortar. Its philosophy is to create environmentally sustainable, disaster resilient buildings through local local manufacturing operations and builders in disaster stricken or developing nations.of materials is a Haiti-domiciled business licensed by Veerhuis, a Netherlands group, to produce its unique building process and materials in Haiti and nearby countries.
By deploying this system, Veerhouse Voda aims to improve the safety and resilience of buildings in Haiti while bringing down their cost. Veerhouse Voda provides a variety of building structures typologies including houses, hospitals, schools, commercial buildings, and warehouses, all of which meet Eurocode conventionalbuilding standards. Veerhouse Voda’s building system is 4 to 5 times faster than traditional building methods and is up to 98% recycleable. Veerhouse Voda’s building system is 4 to 5 times faster than traditional building methods, and the buildings are expected to last over 70 years and can be recycled.
In addition, up to 20% of the EPS materials used can be recycled products.
The widespread use of poor quality traditional construction materials is considered a prime cause of the horrendous casualties and devastation in Haiti’s 2010 Earthquake, in which hundreds of thousands of buildings suddenly collapsed, tragically killing or injuring their unsuspecting occupants.
Veerhouse provides a variety of building structures including houses, hospitals, schools, commercial buildings, and warehouses, all of which meet Eurocode standards. Up to 20% of the EPS materials used can be recycled products. Veerhouse’s building system is 4 to 5 times faster than traditional building methods, and the buildings are expected to last over 70 years and can be recycled.
The company is based in Haiti with offices in New York and the Netherlands.
About Leopard Haiti Fund LP (www.leopardcapital.com)
LHF was launched in July 2012 as the first private equity fund for Haiti, with US $20 million committed capital from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), and the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF). LHF invests in small and medium businesses vital to job creation, economic development, and Haiti’s continuing recovery from the 2010 earthquake. One of LHF’s four priority sectors is affordable housing.
LHF is Leopard Capital’s second investment fund, and focuses exclusively in investing in Haiti. LHF invested in dloHaiti Inc., a drinking water business, in May 2013, and in NuTV, a leading pay television service, in April 2014. Veerhouse is the fund’s third investment to date.
About Leopard Capital
Leopard Capital LP is a Cayman Islands domiciled manager of investment funds in frontier markets. Prior to launching Leopard Haiti Fund, in 2008 Leopard Capital established Leopard Cambodia Fund as Cambodia’s first private equity fund. Leopard Cambodia Fund has made 14 investments in telecommunications, consumer goods, agriculture, financial services, and renewable energy.
Visit www.leopardcapital.com for more information.
For Further Details, Please Contact:
Mr. Thierry Bungener, Managing Partner, tb@leopardcapital.com
Mr. Guy Balan, Associate Partner, gb@leopardcapital.com
c/o Leopard Capital Haiti Ltd.
52 Angle rue Vilaire et rue E. Pouget Morne Calvaire, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Tel: +509 4890 0767