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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Private Equity
Abraaj takes majority stakes in Al Kindy and Menara
The Abraaj Group announced two healthcare sector acquisitions last week, both made through the $375 million Abraaj North Africa Fund II, the private equity firm's second generation North African fund which closed in August 2015. The deals, the terms of which remain undisclosed, involve the fund taking majority stakes in both companies; the first, Centre de Traitement Al Kindy, is the largest private oncology clinic in Casablanca, while the second, Clinique Spécialisée Menara, is a leading oncology and diagnostics imaging center in Marrakech.
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Private Equity
Atlas Mara acquires FBZ in cash/share deal
Atlas Mara, the financial services investment company, looks set to acquire the entire share capital of Finance Bank of Zambia (FBZ), the country's sixth largest bank, for $60 million in cash and 2.6 million shares of Atlas Mara stock. Once the deal is completed, Atlas Mara plans to merge FBZ with its existing portfolio holding, BankABC Zambia, to create
Zambia's largest bank by branch network and 5th largest bank by assets with combined assets of about $418 million.
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Private Equity
Qalaa exits 2 ASEC Cement subsidiaries for $124mln
Qalaa Holdings, formerly known as Citadel Capital, announced the sale of stakes in two divisions of its business unit, ASEC Cement, to Misr Cement Quena for a total consideration of EGP 1 billion or approximately $124 million. The deal, which consists of the disposal of a 46.5% stake in ASEC Minya Cement and a 55% stake in ASEC Ready Mix is expected to close on or before November 20th, 2015.
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Private Equity
Kevin Tucker, who founded PriceCheck in 2006 and sold it to Naspers in 2010, is reacquiring the online price comparison platform in partnership with Silvertree Investment Holdings. The acquisition is being made through Silvertree's subsidiary company ClicknCompare and terms of the deal, which was announced last week, were not disclosed.
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Venture Capital
Sendy, an on-demand package delivery startup in Kenya, is the first business to receive funding from Safaricom's $1 million Spark Venture Fund which was launched 12 months ago. While the amount of funding was undisclosed,
Disrupt Africa reports that the fund's strategy is to make investments between $75,000 and $250,000.
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PriceCheck founder Kevin Tucker teams with Silvertree to buy back the online comparison site
Image Credit: PriceCheck |
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Fund & Fundraising News...
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Venture Capital
MEVP holds $30mln second close for Fund II
Middle East Venture Partners announced a second close of over $30 million for Middle East Venture Partners (II), its fourth venture fund, hitting its target and increasing the fund manager's total assets under management to $120 million. Among the investors committing to the fund are a Regional Bank, blue chip GCC investors as well as a regional telecommunications operator. Currently oversubscribed, MEVP announced that it might accept further subscriptions over the next two weeks.
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Sovereign Debt
Angola raises $1.5bln with debut Eurobond
Angola raised $1.5 billion with the issue of a debut 10-year Eurobond last week yielding 9.5% The capital will be used to fund long-term economic development in the oil-producing country, and was raised as part of the country's goal of reducing its dependence on other, more traditional forms of credit including bilateral aid and commercial funds.
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Projects & Portfolio Companies...
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Private Equity - Financial Services
Lekela Power, the joint venture between private equity firm Actis and developer Mainstream Renewable Power which was launched in February this year, announced the signature of Memorandum of Understanding with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company to develop a $350 million wind power station in the Gulf of Suez. The station will be managed within a build, own and operate framework, and, when completed, will have a 250 MW generation capacity.
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Private Equity - Healthcare
Catalyst-backed Goodlife Pharmacy eyes acquisitions
Goodlife Pharmacy, the Kenyan pharmaceutical retailer, is planning acquisitions as part of its strategy to expand the number or retail outlets it operates from the current number of 15 to 40 by the end of next year. The former Mimosa Pharmacy, which has been renamed with the Goodlife brand, was backed by Catalyst Principal Partners in September last year.
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This week's issue supported by...
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AfCD's 2016 Guide to sub-Saharan Private Equity
"The must-have reference and planning resource for investors and their advisers exploring the private equity investment opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa."
Order Africa Capital Digest's
2016 Guide to sub-Saharan Private Equity today at the pre-publication discount and add the most comprehensive, up-to-date source of information on the leading fund managers located in the African subcontinent. Benefit from:
- Profiles with Names, Emails of each firm's investment professionals
- Details of active funds, preferred deal sizes, regional and sector preferences
- Information on current portfolio companies and projects
- Headquarter and Regional Office contact details
- Expert insight on fund raising, due diligence, execution and exits
- Quick reference indexes of fund managers and portfolio companies by sector
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Real Estate
Helios inks partnership deal with Acorn
Helios Investment Partners is stepping into the gap created by Acorn's recent split from Britam to partner with the Kenyan Property Developer and provide the capital muscle required to take advantage of the opportunities the sector offers. While it is a "50:50 partnership", neither the structure, valuation or other financial terms were disclosed.
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Real Estate
Xterra eyes Kenya Real Estate for deals
Xterra Capital Advisors, which is in the process of raising the $300 million Xterra Africa Property Fund, is apparently planning to invest a significant proportion in the fund in Kenyan real estate opportunities. The firm, which is also a similar amount in debt, will invest 34% of the capital in Kenya's property market, with other allocations planned for Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
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Renewable Energy
EBRD earmarks $250mln for MENA renewables projects
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is earmarking $250 million in debt and equity finance for private sector investment in renewable energy projects in the North African countries of Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt. The Climate Investment Funds' Clean Technology Fund and the Global Environment Facility are both investing alongside the facility providing $35 million and $10 million respectively.
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Infrastructure
Following the announcement by Nigeria's Vice President that the newly-installed government plans to launch a $25 billion infrastructure fund, Ventures One reports that despite the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority's (NSIA), which manages its own infrastructure fund, being unaware of the plan, they broadly welcome it.
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Trends - Private Equity
Too much money capital targeting too few opportunities at the larger end of the private company spectrum in Africa, while the reverse is true in the small and mid-cap space. A summary of some of the key trends in the latest iteration of Riscura's Bright Africa report.
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Perspectives - Private Equity
Africa's rise hobbled by China slowdown
// ft.com
The failure of many governments to diversify and strengthen their economies during the commodity boom is being felt in several sub-Saharan African countries. The International Monetary Fund estimates that growth rates in the region will fall to low levels last seen before the financial crisis, cutting growth predictions by 50% in certain oil producing countries in particular which have been hit hard by the fall in the global price of crude.
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| Companies, People & Profiles... |
People News
As part of its strategy to boost its presence in Continental Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, technology consulting firm Methys has recruited Jean-Philippe Gireaud to be the company's Head of International Business Development. He join them from eFront, the financial services software company, where he spent five years as the company's Area Sales Manager for Europe and Africa.
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People News
Kenyan private equity fund manager, Catalyst Principal Partners, has boosted its investment advisory team with the appointments of two highly experienced investors, Andrew Reicher and Jim Seymour. Reicher will serve as Chair of Catalyst's investment committee, while Seymour joins the private equity firm's board of senior advisers.
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Profile
An interesting profile of The Abraaj Group, one of the leading emerging markets (or growth markets to use the private equity group's preferred term) investors, that will appear in the print edition of Forbes on November 23rd. It explores the background and investment philosophy of a firm that has over 200 investments in Africa, the Middle East and south East Asia and has delivered its investors an annual return of 17% since its inception in 2002.
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Senior Manager, Agriculture Investments at QGIAM
Based in Port Louis, Mauritius
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Vice President for Africa-focused Private Equity firm
Based in London, UK
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Principal, Investment Facilitation at CrossBoundary
Based in Bamako, Mali
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Associate, Investment Facilitation at CrossB
oundary
Based in Bamako, Mali
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Energy Investment Associate at CrossBoundary
Based in Nairobi, Kenya
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Analyst for Private Investment firm
Based in Cape Town, South Africa
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Law Associate for Infrastructure and Energy practice
Based in London, UK
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Senior Transaction Services Analyst at PwC
Based in Casablanca, Morocco
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Senior Legal Counsel at National Bank of Dubai
Based in Cairo, Egypt
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Investment Analyst or Associate at ACE & Co.
Based in Cairo, Egypt
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African Finance & Investment Forum 2015
Cape Town, November 24th to November 26th, 2015
Read more...
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Agrique Africa Investment Summit
Accra, November 17th to November 18th, 2015
Read more...
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Ericsson AHUB at Africacom
Cape Town, November 17th to November 19th, 2015
Read more...
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13th Annual African Capital Markets Conference
Cape Town, November 26th to November 27th, 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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Dar es Salaam, December 3rd to December 4th, 2015
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Washington, DC, January 27th to January 29th, 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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