Last week in brief...In what was otherwise a relatively quiet week, two items which feature leading private equity firm Helios Investment Partners shouted for our attention. The more significant of the two is the news that Helios has struck a deal to merge its holding company into Fairfax Africa, a listed investment holding subsidiary of Canadian insurer Fairfax Financial, in an all-share deal. When the transaction closes, Helios will hold a 45.9% stake in the combined business which will be renamed Helios Fairfax Africa and remain listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The second of the two items concerns a commitment to Helios's fourth fund, which, once closed, will be the biggest private equity find raised for private equity deals in Africa. CDC Group, the British DFI, is committing $100 million to the fund, Helios Investor IV, which will invest in mid to large-cap opportunities across all industry sectors, helping management teams build their businesses into local and regional champions. Helios is aiming to raise a total of $1.25 billion for the fund eventually.
In other fundraising news, XSML Capitalhas landed a commitment for African River Fund III (ARF III) from SDG Frontier Fund, a Belgian fund-of-funds. The impact investor s now aiming to raise $65 million in time for ARF III's first close. The sector-agnostic fund will follow much the same strategy as its predecessor, sourcing opportunities in well-managed, growing small and medium-sized businesses in Central Africa.
The remainder of the deals last week was made up of venture deals. Energy Access Ventures has added another investment to its growing portfolio. The business is SolarX, a renewable energy company based in Mali which sells clean and affordable energy solutions to commercial and industrial clients in West Africa. The terms for this, the company’s Series A found, have not been disclosed.
Staying in West Africa, Pricepally, an online grocery startup used by consumers to buy produce directly from farmers and wholesalers in Nigeria, has landed an undisclosed amount of capital from GreenTec Capital. The business has grown significantly, driven, in part, by the expansion of demand for online products and services fuelled by the global pandemic.
Enygma Ventures has made an investment in Lupiya, a Lusaka-headquartered microfinance startup. The venture firm is investing $1 million in the business which will help the startup continue to scale and roll out its services more fully across Zambia. Lupiya is a branchless, digital microfinance startup that uses technology to simplify the borrowing process for people and businesses throughout Zambia, allowing even the most remote, rural populations to access financial services. Customers can apply for a loan up to $1,000, which, if approved is deposited directly into a bank account or e-wallet.
And finally, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Board of Governors is set to vote on the three nominees submitted for consideration as the development finance institution’s next President at a meeting in early October. The 71-member board will vote one of the three into the office for a 4-year term by secret ballot, appointing the Bank’s seventh President since its founding in 1991.
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.
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
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