October 5, 2023: Investment firm Coronation Asset Management has further increased its stake in battery and automotive group Metair Investments to more than 15%.

The deal was announced on September 22,  just a week after Metair posted increased operating profit and Ebitda in interim results for the first half of the year.

Africa-focused Coronation previously had a 10% stake in Metair, which it acquired in November 2020.

Coronation did not respond to requests from Batteries International about its interest in Metair — which reiterated last April that it planned to eventually sell its energy storage business.

Batteries International reported last month that Metair had appointed Johan Mouton as COO with effect from October 1.

Mouton was most recently technical and logistics director at the BMW Group’s plant in Rosslyn, South Africa. He is also a former VP of the body and press plant at BMW’s Tiexi facility in China.