Polar Nexus Integrated Cold Storage Business Plan › Section 1 › Executive Summary

Polar Nexus Integrated Cold Storage (Pty) Ltd proposes to develop,
own and operate a 25,000-pallet, multi-temperature cold storage
and value-added logistics facility on the R21 logistics
corridor in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng — South Africa’s largest inland
consumption market and the country’s busiest freight and air-cargo hub.
The ~22,000 m² facility will offer ambient, chilled, frozen and
blast-freezing capacity, underpinned by a 3.2 MWp rooftop solar array
with 4 MWh of battery storage to insulate operations from grid tariff
escalation and supply risk.

The investment thesis is straightforward: South Africa has a large,
fast-growing and structurally under-served cold chain, an
export-oriented agricultural sector setting consecutive records, and an
acute post-harvest loss problem that modern temperature-controlled
infrastructure directly addresses. Against this demand, the supply of
institutional-grade, energy-resilient, technology-enabled cold storage
remains constrained and fragmented. Polar Nexus is positioned to capture
this gap with a purpose-built asset, an anchor-tenant-underpinned
revenue base, and a low-carbon operating model.

1.1 The opportunity

South Africa’s cold chain market was valued at roughly USD 6.3
billion in 2023 and is forecast to grow to over USD 20.6 billion by
2030, a compound annual growth rate of approximately 18%. Refrigerated
storage is the largest component of this market, accounting for just
over half of total cold-chain value. The cold storage segment alone is
projected to expand from about USD 3.9 billion in 2024 to more than USD
10 billion by 2030. South Africa is the single largest cold-chain market
in Africa, holding roughly 30% of the continent’s organised
capacity.

This growth is anchored in real economic activity. South African
agricultural exports reached a record USD 13.7 billion in 2024 and a
further record of USD 15.1 billion in 2025, up 10% year-on-year,
producing an agricultural trade surplus of USD 7.3 billion. Citrus alone
shipped 203.4 million 15 kg cartons in the 2025 season, a 22% increase
on 2024. Every one of those cartons requires an unbroken cold chain from
pack-house to port. At the same time, post-harvest losses across
sub-Saharan Africa are estimated at 30–40% of production, and South
Africa wastes an estimated 10.3 million tonnes of edible food each year
— losses that temperature-controlled storage and handling are
specifically designed to prevent.

1.2 The offering

Polar Nexus will operate as an independent, neutral third-party
logistics (3PL) provider — not aligned to any single retailer or
producer — generating revenue from three complementary streams: storage
rental (per pallet position), throughput handling (inbound and outbound
movements), and higher-margin value-added services (blast freezing, case
picking, repacking, labelling, kitting, inspection and export
documentation). This mix diversifies revenue, raises asset yield and
deepens customer switching costs.

Target customers span fruit and vegetable exporters, meat, poultry
and seafood processors, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and dairy
manufacturers, quick-service restaurant (QSR) supply chains,
pharmaceutical and retail distribution. An anchor take-or-pay agreement
covering a material share of capacity will underpin the revenue ramp
from commissioning, materially de-risking the lender’s position.

1.3 Financial highlights

The project requires total funding of R780.0 million, structured as
50% equity (R390.0 million) and 50% senior debt (R390.0 million) — a
conservative gearing level appropriate to a greenfield asset. The senior
facility carries a 12-year tenor at an indicative 11.5% with a two-year
principal moratorium that aligns repayment with the occupancy ramp. A
dedicated ramp-up reserve and a six-month debt service reserve account
(DSRA) protect early-stage cash flow.

On these assumptions the facility generates Year-1 revenue of R106.0
million rising to R222.3 million by Year 5, with EBITDA margins
expanding from approximately 30% to 54% as occupancy climbs from 62% to
90%. The project delivers an unlevered IRR of 17.1% and a levered equity
IRR of 21.7% over a ten-year horizon, with a net present value to equity
of R129.6 million at an 18% discount rate and a money multiple of 6.4x.
Cash flow remains positive throughout, and the minimum post-grace debt
service coverage ratio is 1.25x.

1.4 Why this project, why now

• Structural demand growth: an ~18% CAGR
  cold-chain market driven by record agricultural exports, urbanisation,
  retail formalisation and the cold-storage-dependent expansion of QSR and
  e-grocery.
• A problem worth solving: 30–40% post-harvest
  losses and ~10.3 Mt of annual food waste represent both a national
  imperative and a commercial opportunity for efficient
  infrastructure.
• Energy resilience as a moat: with grid tariffs
  up ~190% since 2014 and coal retirements threatening supply from 2027,
  an integrated solar-plus-storage facility enjoys a durable cost and
  reliability advantage over legacy operators.
• Constrained, fragmented supply: outside a
  handful of large operators, organised cold-storage capacity is
  fragmented, ageing and energy-exposed, leaving room for a modern,
  neutral, technology-enabled entrant.
• A bankable structure: prudent 50/50 gearing,
  anchor take-or-pay revenue, ring-fenced reserves and conservative cost
  assumptions produce robust coverage and an attractive risk-adjusted
  return.

Confidential — this business plan is provided to prospective investors and lenders for evaluation purposes only and may not be reproduced or distributed without the written consent of Polar Nexus Integrated Cold Storage (Pty) Ltd.