The
weekly roundup of Africa's Private Capital news
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Here's this week's wrap of the most interesting Africa-related private equity, infrastructure and venture capital deal stories, market opinion articles and information pieces for our review. Thank you for being a reader and we hope you continue to find the newsletter useful.
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This week's issue supported by...
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The week in brief...
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It was all about fundraising last week with the healthy levels of capital commitments confirming that Africa's opportunities are still attractive to private capital investors. The
African Renewable Energy Fund took the prize for the largest raise announced last week with the announcement that it had held its final close, hitting its hard cap of $200 million. The
Berkeley Energy-managed fund
will focus on small hydro, wind, solar, geothermal
,
stranded gas and biomass projects across
sub-Saharan
Africa, investing between $10 million and $30 million in IPPs with generating capacities in the range of 5MW to 50MW.
Synergy Capital, the West African-focused private equity investor, held its final close for its first fund at $100 million last week. The fund now has a total of twelve investors, made up of four development finance institutions, seven commercial investors and one sovereign. It has already deployed 20% in three investments in Nigeria and is on the verge of making its first Ghanaian investment. It looks as if they are in for a very busy time with an additional financial services investment planned for 2015 as well as plans for another three or four investments over the next year.
Meanwhile development financier GroFin formally launched its Small and Growing Businesses Fund or SGB Fund last week. The fund, which already has $100 million in commitments, expects to grow to $150 million in the next two years, making it one of the largest funds targeting SMEs in Africa. GroFin anticipates making between 80 ta o 100 investments per year, with typical loans being approved based on viable business plans rather than collateral and ranging from $100,000 to $1.5 million in size.
On the transaction front, the main theme was exits. In selling C-Re Holdings to Saham Finances, Emerging Capital Partners is exiting the 53.6% stake it holds in Nigerian Stock Exchange-listed Continental Reinsurance. ECP had first invested in Continental Re in February 2007 through two funds; ECP Africa Fund II PCC and Central Africa Growth Sicar. Terms of last week's sale to Saham were not disclosed.
In another exit, an AfricInvest-led consortium exited their 59.34% stake in Alios Finance,
the French holding company with majority stakes in a group of non-banking financial services companies operating across
sub-Saharan
Africa. AfricInvest held 23% of the equity, and is now fully exited from the company after this sale to TLG Finance.
In portfolio company news, Waco International, the equipment rental and industrial services business owned by a consortium of private equity investors that include Ethos Private Equity, RMB Ventures and Standard Bank as well as the company's management, looks set to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange before the end of the year. The IPO marks a return for Waco International to the South African bourse. In 2000, Ethos led a buyout of the company, delisting it in the process, before selling it to a group of investors led by J.P. Morgan & Co. and the company's management for $404 million in 2006. In 2012, Ethos, RMB Ventures and Standard Bank agreed to buy the company in an undisclosed deal. While the amount of capital the company is looking to raise has not been disclosed, Business Day reports that the owners are aiming to sell between 50% and 70% of the business, with both the private equity consortium and the management investment trust selling a portion of their holding.
You can review these and other stories by
scrolling
down and reviewing the headlines, abstracts and links.
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Private Equity
Emerging Capital Partners, the Africa-focused private equity fund, has sold C-RE Holdings to Saham Finances, the insurance arm of the Saham Group in an undisclosed deal. Through C-Re Holdings, ECP held a 53.6% stake in Nigerian Stock Exchange-listed Continental Reinsurance, a pan-African reinsurer operating in 44 countries across the continent from offices in Nigeria, Cameroon, Botswana, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya and Tunisia.
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Private Equity
AfricInvest has fully exited its 23% stake in Alios Finance, the French holding company with majority stakes in a group of non-banking financial services companies operating across several
countries
in
sub-Saharan
Africa. The deal is part TLG Finance's acquisition of 59.34% of Alios Finance's equity from a number of other stakeholders, including development finance institutions FMO and Finnfund as well as Bank of Africa Group and Gras Savoye, the French insurance broker. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
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Private Debt
Africa-focused private equity fund Helios Investment Partners has funded a debt facility for Starzs Investments Company, a Nigerian marine logistics company. The size of the facility and terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Starzs has made an initial drawdown of the debt facility in order to acquire the MV Varada Queen, a terminal tugboat which Starzs has been operating on a lease-purchase agreement since 2013.
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Private Equity
Last week, i
mpact investor Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P)
announced news of
t
wo minority
investments
it has recently made in West Africa. Both investments were made from
its €54 million
I&P Afrique Entrepreneur Fund and the financial terms of each deal were not disclosed. The first is the acquisition of a 35% stake in Enval Laboratoire, a physico-chemical and microbiology lab located in the Côte d'Ivoire, while the second is participating in a consortium investing $3.2 million in PEG Africa, a renewable energy company
bringing off-grid solar energy access to under-served communities.
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Africa Renewable Energy Fund or AREF closes fund at $200 million
Image Credit: Greenfields Energy
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Private Equity
The African Renewable Energy Fund, a Berkeley Energy managed fund that will focus on small hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, stranded gas and biomass projects across sub-Saharan Africa, held its final close early last week, successfully hitting its $200 million hard cap with commitments from European Investment Bank, the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund and other investors.
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Private Equity
Synergy Capital, the West African-focused investor, announced last week that it had held the final close for its first private equity fund on September 9
th
, exceeding its hard cap of $100 million. Synergy Private Equity Fund I has twelve investors, made of four of the most active development finance institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, seven commercial investors and one sovereign.
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Private Equity
Development finance company GroFin, in partnership with the Shell Foundation, development finance institutions KfW and Norfund and the Dutch Good Growth Fund announced the official launch of the Small and Growing Businesses Fund in Kampala last week. The fund, which according to GroFin's website was first incorporated in August 2014, already has $100 million in commitments which it expects to grow to $150 million in the next two years, making it one of the largest funds targeting SMEs in Africa.
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Projects & Portfolio Companies...
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Private Equity
Waco International, the equipment rental and industrial services business owned by a consortium of private equity private investors that include Ethos Private Equity, RMB Ventures and Standard Bank as well as the company's management, looks set to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange before the end of the year, subject to market conditions and the necessary approvals.
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Private Equity
Dandemutande, the Zimbabwean internet service provider owned my Mauritian investment company Masawara, is merging with Gondwana International Networks, the owner of iAfrica and Africa Online. The deal is awaiting approval from the competition and tariff commission in Zimbabwe.
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This week's issue supported by...
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Strategies - Private Equity
While many banks are getting out of the private equity business following the financial crisis and increased regulatory pressure, Investec will continue to make investments according to this report in
Business Day. The specialist investment bank its capital requirements to levels that are "well above" the regulatory thresholds, thereby avoiding pressure to dispose of its private equity assets.
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Sector - Venture Capital
Many people loves lists, and Ventureburn gives us a number in this article on the start-up scene in South Africa. From VC funds, angel investors, incubators and accelerators to networking organizations, conferences, education and media companies, the piece provides brief profiles and details of the leading participants in the country's VC eco-system.
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Trends - Private Equity
According to data compiled by Burbidge capital, private equity investors have pumped almost $1 billion into 18 deals in Kenya so far this year. This figure marks a significant leap over the number for last year, when declared value of investments stood at approximately $151 million. The financial services sector proved to be the most attractive sector for investors in the region.
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Perspectives - Private Equity
Private equity in Africa boosts firms, but what about investors?
// economist.com
With private equity investments in Africa requiring improved management and execution rather than debt to deliver returns to their investors, the continent's businesses stand to benefit significantly. Not so true for their investors, according to this piece in The Economist which states that fewer than half of buyout funds did better than the median fund investing in stocks over the decade to 2012.
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Perspectives - Venture Capital
Crowdfunding start-up projects is fast becoming a viable option for entrepreneurs in South Africa. A review of some of the country's platforms and recently crowdfunded projects as well as a checklist of what's needed to pull off a successful campaign.
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Companies, People & Profiles... |
People News
Benedict Oramah was been sworn in as the new President of the African Export-Import Bank at a ceremony held in Cairo at the beginning of last week, following his election to the post in June this year. In his acceptance speech, the respected Nigerian banker pledged to make the facilitation of intra-African trade the cornerstone of Afreximbank's activities under his leadership.
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Vice President for Africa-focused private equity firm
Based in London, UK
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Senior Associate, Africa-focused Private Equity firm
Based in London, UK
Read more...
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Principal, Investment Facilitation at CrossBoundary
Based in Bamako, Mali
Read more...
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Associate, Investment Facilitation at CrossBoundary
Based in Bamako, Mali
Read more...
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Energy Investment Associate at CrossBoundary
Based in Nairobi, Kenya
Read more...
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Senior Associates and Associates at QGIAM
Based in Port Louis, Mauritius
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Investment Director (Francophone) at CDC Group
Based in London, UK
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13th Annual African Capital Markets Conference
Cape Town, November 26th to November 27th, 2015
Read more...
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Africa Infrastructure and Power Forum
Beijing, October 15th to October 16th, 2015
Read more...
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Private Equity in Africa 2015
London, October 28th, 2015
Read more...
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Powering Africa: the Finance Options
Cape Town, November 5th to November 6th, 2015
Read more...
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Agrique Africa Investment Summit
Accra, November 17th to November 18th, 2015
Read more...
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TMT Finance & Investment World 2015
London, December 1st, 2015
Read more...
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The Global African Investment Summit
London, December 1st to December 2nd, 2015
Read more...
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Accra, December 1st to December 3rd, 2015
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We hope you found the digest to be a useful summary of the major happenings in Africa's private capital markets last week. We'd love it if you shared it with colleagues and business partners. They can sign up for free
here.
Best wishes for a productive week - if you have any tips, suggestions, questions or comments, please get in touch.
All the best,
- Allan
Allan Cunningham
Editor & Publisher
AfCD | Africa Capital Digest
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