PAI Partners’ R&R Ice Cream has agreed to buy Nestlé’s South African ice cream business, as consumer product-related M&A in sub-Saharan Africa reaches its highest level in nearly a decade.

The acquisition, announced on Thursday, will add ice cream brands Dairymaid, Eskimo Pie and King Cone in South Africa to UK-based R&R's existing portfolio, which includes the Fab, Smarties and Rowntrees Fruit Pastilles brands.