Last week in brief...The lion's share of private capital news in Africa last week revolved around fundraising. Several GPs across the continent landed commitments of one sort or another, in the main from DFIs.

The first comes courtesy of the European Investment Bank which signed off on a commitment to Africa Development Partners III, DPI's latest pan-African fund. The bank is investing $50 million in the planned $800 million fund which will follow a similar strategy to its predecessors, backing cash flow positive businesses that sell their products and services to Africa’s middle-class consumer segment.

First-time GP Adiwalé Partners held the first close for their maiden private equity fund, garnering commitments totaling €50 million (or $55 million at current exchange rates) from a mix of development finance institutions and institutional investors. The fund will invest capital in SMEs in Francophone West Africa, putting between €3 million and €8 million to work in each of its deals.

In North Africa, Lorax Capital Partners has received a fund commitment from the second European DFI in as many weeks. The European Investment Bank has agreed to invest $22 million in Lorax Capital Partners Fund II which will back opportunities in SMEs and mid-cap companies across all industry sectors, primarily those located in Egypt. Two weeks ago we reported that the fund was in line for a $50 million investment by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Back in West Africa, Uhuru Investment Partners has a new LP for its first fund. One of several commitments announced by the European Investment Bank last week, Uhuru Growth Fund I has secured $30 million from the Bank, helping it move further towards its eventual final close target of $200 million.

In deal news, Zoscales Partners announced it's made the third deal for its maiden private equity fund. The Addis Ababa-based investment firm is backing African Jobs Network on behalf of Zoscales Fund I with fresh equity, betting on the growing levels of demand for recruitment services in East Africa as the region’s attraction as a destination for foreign direct investment continues to increase.

Helios Investment Partners and Lombard Odier Asset Management have an opportunity to exit their stakes in Eland Oil & Gas following Seplat Petroleum’s all-cash offer to acquire the business. Seplat has agreed to pay about $490 million for Eland which would deliver a very healthy return to Helios who invested $62 million for an almost 30% stake in 2012. Eland's board is recommending shareholders take the deal, which values the company at an almost 28.5% premium to its closing share price on October 14th.

And finally, two senior, well-known investment executives are starting at new firms. Wendel Africa's CEO, Stéphane Bacquaert is joining Adenia Partners to lead the private equity firm's West African activities. He officially starts his new role on November 1st.

Andrew Brown, most recently Emerging Capital Partners' Chief Investment Officer, has joined CDC Group as a Managing Director and Deputy CIO. He'll be responsible for chairing the British DFIs Investment Committee for Funds and Capital Partnerships, and also be a member of CDC’s Direct Equity Investment Committee.

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

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.

Subscribirse al Directorio
Escribir un Artículo

Destacadas

Axon moves into Cloud Technology

by Axon Partners Group

cloud technology

Indexa Capital Group aumenta sus ingreso...

by Indexa Capital

Indexa Capital Group, sociedad matriz de Indexa Capital AV, Bewater As...

Diapositiva de Fotos