The 5 most popular stories on Africa Private Equity News this week
Here are summaries of the five most widely read stories this week on Africa Private Equity News.
1. South Africa: RMB Corvest participates in pharmaceutical deal
A private equity consortium comprising RMB Corvest and Umoya Capital Partners have, alongside management and Calibre Capital, invested in Brunel Laboratoria. The deal broadens Brunel’s BEE empowerment, while extending RMB Corvest’s portfolio in the fast-growing healthcare sector.
Brunel is a pharmaceutical brand owner and distributor, with a portfolio of products spanning the scheduled and complementary medicine, health supplement and dispensary consumable segments. The business has been operating in South Africa for over 40 years and has a well-established consumer base. The business’s brands include Mist Alba, Famucaps, B.Co, Multivit, Hot Toddy and Elev8 among a range of others.
2. BIO invests $10m in Ezdehar fund
The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) has made a $10 million equity investment in the Ezdehar Mid-Cap Fund II, a private equity fund focused on Egypt.
Ezdehar Mid-Cap Fund II is Ezdehar Management’s second fund and BIO’s first investment in a fund in Egypt. Like its predecessor fund, it will target SMEs and family businesses, which remain largely overlooked by the broader investing community.
3. Eos Capital acquires stake in Cherry Irrigation’s Namibian business
The Euphrates Agri Fund, managed by Eos Capital – a Namibian private equity firm with N$1 billion (about $65.6 million) in assets under management – has acquired a minority stake in the Namibian business of Cherry Irrigation for an undisclosed amount. The investment will be used as growth capital within the Namibian business with a view to increase irrigated land in the country and thereby improve food production in Namibia.
Cherry Irrigation was established in South Africa in 1987 with irrigation design as the focus service. The company’s service offering now includes irrigation automation, design and installation services.
The company has its head office in Grabouw, South Africa, with two additional business units in Namibia and Angola.
4. Mauritania: Afreximbank’s FEDA invests in FMCG company
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced an investment by the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), its development impact-oriented subsidiary, into TND SA, a leading FMCG company in Mauritania.
Founded in 2005, TND is one of the largest homegrown importers and distributors of goods and consumer products in Mauritania. TND’s operations include wholesale and retail of food imports as well as various logistics services.
5. IFC invests in Knife Capital Fund III
To support growth in South Africa’s digital economy and increase access to financing for the country’s tech entrepreneurs, IFC has invested in Knife Fund III, a new fund managed by Cape Town-based venture capital firm Knife Capital.
IFC’s $10 million investment in Knife Fund III will provide financial support to tech startups in high-growth sectors in South Africa with strong potential for expansion across Africa and internationally, including enterprise technology, software, health-tech, and fintech.
Knife aims to raise $50 million for Fund III, which will primarily target investments in the series B (second round of funding) stage. Fund III follows Knife Fund II, which was launched in 2016, and Fund I, which was launched in 2010.
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