The
weekly roundup of Africa's Private Capital news
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Happy New Year. We at Africa Capital Digest extend our wishes for a prosperous 2016 to all our readers.
Here's the last weekly wrap of the most interesting Africa-related private equity, infrastructure and venture capital deal stories, market opinion articles and information pieces.
Thanks you being a reader and we look forward to continuing to keep you informed on the private capital investment themes, deals and fundraisings in Africa.
As always, if you have any tips, suggestions or questions, please reach out to Allan Cunningham at [email protected]
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This week's issue supported by...
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The last couple of weeks of 2015 were witness to a flurry of private equity-related deals in Africa by the development finance institutions as well as fund managers. For some deals they acted in concert. And among them, healthcare sector deals seemed to predominate.
The Abraaj Group, the leading emerging markets private equity investor and
PROPARCO, the French government's development finance institution announced
the sale of 83% of their combined stake in
Unimed, Tunisia's second-largest pharmaceutical company, to a consortium of investors that include
SQM, Blakeney Capital and the
Tunisian-Kuwaiti Consortium for Development.
Heading further south to Mauritius for yet another healthcare deal, PROPARCO is
investing an undisclosed amount for a 15% stake in
CIEL Healthcare Limited, a platform company sponsored by diversified investment company
CIEL Group.
IFC, the American development finance institution is also the round, funds from which will be used to acquire and develop a network of private hospitals across sub-Saharan Africa.
And in yet another healthcare deal, the
IFC and the
Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries
are each backing Falck Medical Services Africa with $20 million as part of a $100 million deal to build a network of clinics providing access to basic but high quality healthcare services to people across the sub-Sahara.
Meanwhile,
Duet Africa Private Equity
is acquiring SAPLED from its founders, the
Sifaoui Group, in an undisclosed transaction. The deal is a bet on the increased sale and consumption of the company's products and brands across francophone Africa driven by the region's growing middle class. In the financial services sector,
Apis Partners
is taking a "significant minority" stake in
MicroCred Holdings, a microfinance institution that provides financial products and services to under-banked populations in seven countries in Africa and Asia. And impact investor
Investisseurs & Partenaires
has acquired a 48% stake in
Tincy Boulangerie, a bakery in Benin. In all cases, financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Off Grid Electric continues to attract investment. This time a consortium of Family Offices including the
Packard Foundation,
Ceniarth and the
Calvert Foundation
are backing the solar power distributor with $40 million in debt. The deal brings the total amount of capital raised by the company in the last few months to $70 million.
On the fundraising front, investment firm
Marathon Group is teaming up with UK-based Duet Group
to launch a $300 million private equity fund targeting opportunities in Africa.
Duet Marathon, as the fund will be known, will look for deals in sectors benefiting from the growth in private consumption in some African countries, including food and beverage, healthcare, financial services, communications and retail. And back to healthcare,
Investment Funds for Health in Africa
has held the second closing for their second and latest fund, IFHA II, garnering $136.8 million from a diverse mix of public and private organizations including the
IFC, EIB, FMO, DGGF, ACHMEA and others. The fund will target core platform companies, supporting them in making one or more acquisitions, thereby helping them reach new customers, markets and technologies.
To read more on these and other stories from the last week, please scroll down for the abstracts and links.
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Abraaj and PROPARCO exit 83% of their combined stake in Tunisian pharmaceutical company Unimed
Image Credit: Unimed
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Private Equity
Abraaj and PROPARCO in partial exits from Unimed
Private equity firm The Abraaj Group and PROPARCO, the French development finance institution announced the sale of 83% of their combined stakes in Tunisia's second-largest pharmaceutical company, Unité de fabrication de médicaments (or Unimed) to a consortium of buyers that includes
Washington-based SQM, Blakeney Asset Management, the Tunisian-Kuwaiti Consortium of Development and two local investors. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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Private Equity
Duet acquires SAPLED in undisclosed deal
Duet Africa Private Equity has announced the acquisition of Abidjan-based Société Africaine des Produits Laitiers et Derives (or SAPLED) from the Sifaoui Group in an undisclosed transaction. The deal is being through the creation of Duet Consumer Ivory Coast Holdings of DCICH, a new platform company for the London-based investor. An expanding population, with increased purchasing power is expected to give rise to greater food consumption and retails sales, delivering annual double-digit growth over the next 5 years.
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Private Equity
China's RFW in $98mln Banro private placement
Publicly listed gold mining company Banro Corporation has announced that it has signed definitive agreements with Chinese mining investment fund Resource FinanceWorks in a combined equity private placement, term loan facility and gold streaming transaction related to the publicly-listed firm's Twangiza mine worth $98.75 million. The transaction, which is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals is expected to closed in January 2016.
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Private Equity
Family Offices back Off Grid with $40mln debt package
Off Grid Electric, the solar power distributor operating as M-Power in Tanzania, has secured approximately $40 million in debt financing from a consortium of family offices that include the Packard Foundation, Ceniarth, the Calvert Foundation and others as well as a $5 million grant from USAID's Development Innovation Ventures Program. The deal brings the total amount of capital raised in recent months by Off Grid to $70 million in combined
equity
and debt funding.
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Private Equity
Apis Partners take minority stake in MicroCred
UK-headquartered private equity manager Apis Partners is acquiring a "significant minority stake" in MicroCred Holdings, a global financial institution that provides financial services to under-banked population across seven countries in Africa and Asia. No financial terms for the deal were disclosed, which was expected to close by the end of 2015.
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Private Equity
Kibo exits MFinance via preference share redemption
Kibo Capital Partners has announced a partial exit from Madison Finance or MFinance, one of Zambia's largest microfinance institutions through the redemption of its preference shares. The East and Southern Africa-focused private equity fund manager first invested in MFinance in 2013, taking an initial 25% stake through Kibo Fund I, and further bolstering its holding through follow-on preference share investments to help the business grow its existing loan book to small and medium-sized enterprises. The fund retains a stake in the company through its investment in the micro finance institution's ordinary shares.
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Private Equity
I&P takes 48% stake in Benin bakery Tincy
Investisseurs & Partenaires is backing Tincy Boulangerie, a semi-industrial bakery in Benin which was originally founded in 2009. The deal, which is structured through I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs as a combination of equity and quasi-equity investments, gives I&P a 48% stake for a 5-year period. The fund typically targets deal sizes ranging between €300,000 and €1.5 million in small and medium-sized enterprises, and this latest transaction brings the impact investor's number of investments in Benin to a total of four.
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Venture Capital
Nest backs Ongair in first African deal
Nest, the Hong Kong-based early stage venture investor which opened its doors in Nairobi in July last year has made its first deal in Africa with an undisclosed investment in Ongair, a Kenyan startup that provides its clients with a web-based dashboard that provides them with the ability to communicate with customers through integrated instant messaging platforms.
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DFis
PROPARCO teams with CIEL for new healthcare platform
PROPARCO, the French development finance institution, is investing an undisclosed amount to acquire a 15% stake in Ciel Healthcare, a platform company sponsored by CIEL Group, the diversified investment company headquartered in Mauritius. The IFC is also participating alongside CIEL and PROPARCO in this initial capital round. The funds will be used by the newly constituted company to acquire and develop a chain of private hospitals across sub-Saharan Africa.
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DFIs
IFC among backers of $100mln healthcare deal
The IFC and Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries will invest up to $20 million each in equity in Falck Medical Services Africa, a new healthcare platform company sponsored by Denmark's largest provide of healthcare services, Falck Danmark. The company will invest in health clinics across sub-Saharan Africa, providing the region's population with access to basic but high-quality healthcare services.
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DFIs
AfDB approves $138 mln in loans to hydro project
The African Development Bank has approved $138 million in loans to finance the Ruzizi III Hydropower Plant Project.
The financing will enable the construction of a run-of-river dam straddling the Ruzizi River between the DRC and Rwanda, as well as a 147 MW power plant and distribution station, providing the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi with an independent source of green energy and helping them meet their growing energy needs.
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This week's issue supported by...
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Funds & Fundraising News...
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Private Equity
Duet Marathon launches seeking $300mln
Investment firm Marathon Group is teaming up with UK-based Duet Group to launch a $300 million private equity fund targeting opportunities in Africa. Duet Marathon, as the fund will be known, will target opportunities linked to sectors benefiting from the growth in private consumption in some African countries, including food and beverage, healthcare, financial services, communications and retail. Israel's Globes reports that the fund has already received commitments of $100 million from international institutions.
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Private Equity
Investors back Africa healthcare fund with $137mln
Investment Funds for Health in Africa have held the second closing for their second and latest fund, IFHA II, garnering $136.8 million from a diverse mix of public and private organizations including the IFC, EIB, FMO, DGGF, ACHMEA and others. The fund will target core platform companies, supporting them in making one or more acquisitions, thereby helping them reach new customers, markets and technologies.
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Venture Capital
New $5mln Nigerian social innovation fund launched
A number of venture-focused organizations have partnered up to launch a new $5 million social innovation fund to back Nigerian entrepreneurs looking to provide solutions to local problems, with a particular emphasis on "next generation infrastructure." The fund, backed by CcHub, Venture Garden Group, Omidyar Network and the Bank of Industry will look to invest in deals between $50,000 and $150,000.
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Projects & Portfolio Companies...
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Venture Capital
Jumia taps new CEO for Nigeria
Jumia, the online retailer backed by Rocket Internet, has appointed former Accenture Partner Juliet Anammah to head the firm's Nigerian operation. The business's former Co-CEO's Nicolas Martin and Jeremy Doutte will now be responsible for the group's operations across the 11 African countries in which it has a presence.
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Policy, Regulation & Compliance...
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Competition Regulation
2016 to be a big year for competition law
In an op-ed article in
Business Day, Bowman Gilfillan's Lucinda Verster looks at upcoming developments in competition law in South Africa and the rest of the continent. From the partial implementation of South Africa's Competition Amendment Act expected this year to the planned introduction of competition regimes in other sub-Saharan counts, 2016 promises to be a big year for competition law on the continent.
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Trade Policy
Free Trade agreements and their implications for Africa
With much of the world entering into mega-regional trade agreements, the implications for Africa and its businesses are not good. A look at the impact the recently ratified Trans-Pacific Partnership and planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will have on sub-Saharan Africa's ability to compete on a global scale.
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Perspectives
A piece in the
Financial Times penned by David Humphrey, Standard Bank's head of Infrastructure and Power, in which he reviews the investment and development progress made last year to meet Africa's demand for power. While judging 2015 to have been a difficult year for the sector, he concludes by hoping for a better year in 2016 as more and more African governments take the necessary steps to encourage more investment to help light up the continent.
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Perspectives
While historically it has been an indicator of economic prosperity, urbanization in the African context displays different characteristics to the trend in Asia and Latin America according to the upcoming Foresight Africa report from the team at Brookings Africa Growth Initiative. African cities are growing rapidly, engendering the emergence of megacities lacking the structural transformation seen in other emerging economies.
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Perspectives
Blighted by falling commodity prices and depreciating currencies, the "Africa Rising" narrative may have been a bit more muted of late. But according to U.S. investor Robert Scharar, there is currently tremendous opportunity to make inexpensive investments on the continent, particularly for American investors backed by the rising dollar.
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| Companies, People & Profiles... |
Company News
A short profile of Safaricom's $1 million venture fund that targets investments in seed and growth stage companies that use mobile technology as an enabler.
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| Just this once and just for fun... |
It's the time of year when, it seems, many covering venture capital in Africa like to create lists. So here, in no particular order, are a few we've found.
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Governance Advisor and Country Head roles at Tony Blair AGI
Based in London, UK
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Vice President for Africa-focused Private Equity firm
Based in London, UK
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Corporate Associate at Norton Rose Fulbright
Based in London, UK
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CFO/Financial Controller at Emerging Markets Private Equity firm
Based in London, UK
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Principal for Africa-focused Private Equity firm
Based in London, UK
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Analyst at Emerging Markets Private Equity firm
Based in London, UK
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Portfolio Monitoring for pan-African direct lender
Based in London, UK
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New to Africa Capital Digest this week...
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COO for entrepreneurial Investment Bank
Based in Lagos, Nigeria
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Investment Director, Private Investments at Cambridge Associates
Based in London, UK
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Director, African Investments at LeapFrog Investments
Based in Johannesburg, South Africa
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Senior Investment Officer, Venture Capital at IFC
Based in Lagos, Nigeria
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Senior Investment Officer, Venture Capital at IFC
Based in Dakar, Senegal
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Africa Financial Services Investment Conference 2016
London, May 5th to May 6th, 2016
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Washington, DC, January 27th to January 29th, 2016
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Investing in African Mining Indaba
Cape Town, February 8th to February 11th, 2016
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Egypt Energy Investment Summit
Cairo, February 16th to February 18th, 2016
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SAVCA's Private Equity in Southern Africa
Stellenbosch, February 17th to February 18th, 2016
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Johannesburg, February 17th to February 19th, 2016
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Johannesburg, February 17th to February 19th, 2016
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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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Africa Capital Digest is a product of Rowayton Press
Rowayton, CT 06853, USA
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Copyright © 2014-2015 Rowayton Press, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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