South African diversified and acquisitive group Origin Enterprises, which is led by CEO Gary Shayne, has been assembling a portfolio of companies that supply the essentials the country's industrial economy runs on. The mines, construction sites, packhouses, sugar mills, forestry operations and industrial plants that anchor the country's real-economy output rely on a continuous flow of technical and specialist product to keep operating safely, legally and at scale.

“Protective clothing for the workforce is critical to keeping these industries operating safely and efficiently. Specialist applications in the construction industry prolong the life of infrastructure in the built environment. These categories sit alongside operations rather than within them, but the operations cannot run without them,” says Shayne.

Mbombela- based specialist industrial distributor D&P, trading as Winmar, has been supplying specialist construction materials, personal protective equipment (PPE) and formulated chemicals in the region for 33 years. The business services mining, construction and agricultural customers across Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo, three provinces that together account for the bulk of South Africa’s coal, chrome, platinum, citrus, subtropical fruit and forestry production, and a substantial share of the country’s industrial and construction activity.

“This is a business with deep technical ability, a customer base that has been built and retained over decades, and an established presence in some of the most productive industrial provinces in the country. That combination is investable,” Shayne remarks.

“Winmar joined the Origin stable in 2024. It was a compelling opportunity in isolation, but there were also opportunities with our existing companies,” he says, referring to steel fabricator CSP Engineering, also acquired in 2024, and coatings manufacturer ProPaint, acquired the year before.

Grant Reynierse leads Winmar’s operating team of about 35 people from the company’s Mbombela base. The company’s brand portfolio includes leading names such as 3M, Plascon, Brady, Vulcan, BBF, Javlin, Profit Footwear, ABE, Kaytech, Gabion Baskets, Derbigum, Technical Finishes, Glenchem, Samson Construction Products, Penetron and AECI Improchem, all reputable and established brands in the South African PPE and construction markets.

Winmar’s product mix is technical at the point of sale. The company offers tailored advice and locally-sourced solutions that allow clients to make informed decisions and achieve their project goals, alongside product availability and price. This product mix complements the various markets Winmar operates in, with a large number of products suited to different sectors. The business has been successful across a range of construction projects, including waterproofing, specialist flooring and coatings, by working closely with the professional team, understanding their expectations and specifying accordingly. This reflects Winmar’s “return to service” ethos, for which it strives to maximise the customer experience and secure repeat business. The product range itself is consumed on continuous operating rhythms. Given the demands of the industry, protective clothing is replaced through wear and tear, and coatings and consumables are replenished on maintenance cycles. The result is a recurring revenue base that has held up through multiple economic cycles.

Shayne expands on the operating logic. “Winmar does a lot of simple but important things right, and really well. The team’s technical credibility with the customer is important: the salesperson on the ground is intimately familiar with the product range and can advise on specification. The customer base has been built over decades, which is what produces the recurring earnings profile. There is a long operating history - the brand portfolio, the supplier agencies and the regional position are embedded. These factors have worked together for Winmar across more than three decades.”

A meaningful share of the demand profile is anchored in regulatory necessity. South African mine safety, governed by the Mine Health and Safety Act and the broader Occupational Health and Safety framework, places mandatory specification requirements on much of what Winmar supplies. “The compliance environment isn’t simple, and businesses cannot afford to get it wrong,” Shayne notes. “The products are bought because operations cannot run safely or legally without them.” That dynamic has been a feature of Winmar’s revenue base across its operating history, and underpins the through-the-cycle consistency that defines its track record.

On the product side, the demand backdrop points to continued growth across the categories that Winmar supplies. Mining production across coal, chrome and platinum continues to require workforce protection, plant maintenance and operational consumables on continuous cycles. Agricultural processing across Mpumalanga and Limpopo, spanning citrus, subtropical fruit, sugar and forestry, has expanded steadily over recent years, broadening the customer base across the protective, hygiene and waterproofing categories. The broader infrastructure rehabilitation cycle has lifted demand for technical coatings through the construction sector.

Shayne saw room for the existing model to extend further. “The opportunity is in extending what already works. Adjacent industrial corridors, additional supplier agencies, a deeper product offering across the existing customer base. That kind of organic extension is what well-run distribution businesses do over time, and it is what Winmar has been doing across its operating history. We expect that trajectory to continue, with the benefit of Origin’s strategic support behind it.”

Shayne describes the operating pattern across the broader Origin group in the same terms. “Origin’s businesses operate across different parts of the economy with different customer bases, but they share the same underlying profile. The product is consumed and replaced on regular, predictable rhythms. The brands are established. The customer relationships have been built over time. The operations are cash-generative. That is the kind of business we are interested in supporting over the long term.”