Last week in brief...While the volume of activity wasn't particularly high last week, Africa's private capital markets offered up a little bit of everything. Both equity and debt investments, partial exits from an upcoming IPO and a potential commitment to a maiden private equity fund.
There were a number of firsts. In a sector first for PAPE Fund Managers, their third fund is taking a stake in one of South Africa’s largest privately-owned logistics companies. The deal sees PAPE Fund III acquire significant minority interest in Cape Town-headquartered Laser Group from an existing group of non-management shareholders. Zuko Kubukeli, PAPE Fund Managers' CEO who led the deal, and colleague Guy Baxter will also join Laser Group’s board.
For its first deal in Rwanda, TLG Capital's Credit Opportunities Fund is investing debt in Metafoam, a mattress maker. The deal, which also provides TLG with an equity optionality, has a tenor of 5 years and is backed by a guarantee issued by Equity Bank Rwanda and confirmed by Equity Bank Kenya. The capital will be used to finance an increase in Metafoam's production capacity from its current level of about two hundred thousand mattresses a year.
In what would be the first IPO in Uganda in several years, the Board of pharmaceutical manufacturer CiplaQCIL is planning to float 18% of the company on the Ugandan Stock Exchange in September. Proceeds from the $2.2 million IPO will be distributed fully to the selling shareholders, which include private equity investors TLG Capital and Capitalworks who are both partially reducing their holding in the planned flotation.
African Rainbow Capital is buying the rest of the equity it does not already own in TymeDigital, a South African bank with a strong fintech focus.The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, sees TymeDigital's majority owner, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, sell Africa Rainbow Capital's subsidiary, ARC Financial Holding Company, the 90% holding it does not already own, giving it outright control of the company. TymeDigital provides accessible, affordable banking services to unbanked and underserved retail and small business consumers through a network of partnerships. Its leading partner is retailer Pick n Pay, which will help distribute its services through its 750 Pick n Pay and Boxer stores.
Ethiopian private equity fund manager Cepheus Capital Partners looks to be in line to win a commitment to its maiden fund from the IFC. The development finance institution is making a $10 million investment in the fund, adding to the $51 million it had already garnered from a mix of development finance institutions, family offices and high net worth individuals in time for its first close in February this year. Ultimately, the fund is looking to raise a total of $100 million. The fund’s strategy is to target SME opportunities in Ethiopian manufacturing and services businesses.
OPIC is providing a loan to Tugende, the provider of lease-to-own financing for drivers of "bodas" or motorcycle taxis in Uganda. The loan will be used by Tugende to scale its business model in Uganda and penetrate new markets in the East African region. The firm estimates that some 5,000 people now own their own bodas thanks to the company's services. It typically takes drivers 20 months to take ownership of their leased boda, which can help them double their take home income.
And finally, Duet Group has announced the appointment of a number of new hires to support its private equity investment activities in Africa. The London-based investment firm announced last week that it has made three new investment hires, Fred Chima, Diamotho Doumbia and Kwinten van Nes, who all join the firm from other investment firms including The Abraaj Group and Singaporean Sovereign Wealth Fund, Temasek.
That's it for this week. As always, you can review these and other stories by clicking through to this week's preview edition of the newsletter.
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Allan Cunningham is a senior media executive who has spent the last 15 years of his career working for some of the world’s most respected M&A and Private Equity media companies including Dow Jones’s publications Private Equity Analyst and VentureWire and most recently, The Deal. He has built a number of successful digital and event content businesses, both subscription and sponsor-supported, delivering information and content-marketing services to clients in the M&A and broader deal ecosystem. He recently struck out on his own and launched Rowayton Press, a multi-platform media company focused on the private capital opportunities in emerging and frontier markets. Mr. Cunningham holds a Bachelors degree from Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
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