Five notable Kenyan private capital deals
We highlight five Kenyan private capital deals, as featured in our Dealmaker’s Log.
We highlight five Kenyan private capital deals over the past 12 months, as featured in our Dealmaker’s Log, a database of reported investment deals, exits, and fundraising milestones. Subscribe to this service here
1. Ascent Rift Valley Fund II buys stake in Kenyan packaging business
Dune Packaging, a packaging solutions provider in Kenya, announced a significant minority equity investment in its business by the Ascent Rift Valley Fund II.
The transaction was led and managed by Tradeways, the specialist advisory boutique with a focus on the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Read the full article
2. New Goodwell-managed fund invests in Kenyan potato company
Pepea, an impact investment fund from Oxfam Novib, managed by Goodwell Investments, announced its first-ever investment: Gaea Foods, a potato-processing company targeting the B2B market, based in Nairobi, Kenya.
The fund is investing in Gaea in the form of venture debt, providing working capital to allow the company to better meet demand from new and existing customers. Read the full article
3. Kenya’s Agventure raises $9.5m from AgDevCo
Specialist agricultural investor AgDevCo made an investment in Kenya, into Agventure, a farmer-owned business that is leading the way in regenerative agricultural practices for non-irrigated cereal-based systems.
AgDevCo’s mezzanine loan of $9.5 million will enable the company to continue to develop its canola oil production capabilities – it sells oil under the Pure Mountain brand in Kenya – allowing the company to increase its volumes purchased from outgrower farmers. It will also help to build Agventure Seed’s platform to supply high quality certified seed to farmers. Read the full article
4. Vantage Capital provides $47.5m of funding for real estate project
Vantage Capital provided $47.5 million of mezzanine funding for Two Rivers International & Innovation Centre (TRIFIC SEZ), a services-oriented business park in a special economic zone located within the diplomatic blue zone of Nairobi, Kenya. The promoter of the transaction is Centum, a Nairobi Stock Exchange-listed investment group established in 1967, with interests spanning real estate, energy, industrial operations, technology, media, telecommunications, and financial services. Centum has a track record in delivering real estate projects, including Two Rivers Mall, and has completed over 2,000 residential units in Kenya and Uganda. Read the full article
5. Sahel Capital backs Kenya’s Apple Orchards
Sahel Capital, an investor in the food and agriculture sector in sub-Saharan Africa, approved a $1 million term and working capital loan from its Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa facility.
Apple Orchards, a Kenyan-based enterprise specialising in apple seedling cultivation, supplies high-quality apple products and fresh fruits to the domestic and export market. Additionally, Apple Orchards secures a reliable market for smallholder farmers by aggregating their produce as inputs for its apple-related products and fresh fruit exports. The company currently works with 2,500 farmers across 36 counties in Kenya. Read the full article