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. LeapFrog sells part of Goodlife Pharmacies stake
LeapFrog Investments has sold nearly 30% of its shareholding in Goodlife Pharmacies, East Africa’s leading healthcare and retail pharmacy chain, to Eurapharma (CFAO Healthcare), the healthcare division of the CFAO Group and a wholesale distributor of quality pharmaceuticals in Africa, where it owns and operates subsidiaries in 23 countries.
Goodlife was established in 2014 and has grown into the largest private pharmacy chain in East Africa, with nearly 100 locations in Kenya and in Uganda that reach 1.7 million people.
This transaction will be the first partial sale for the LeapFrog healthcare team, investing out of LeapFrog Emerging Consumer Fund III, which launched in 2017. LeapFrog first invested in Goodlife in 2017, and will remain the majority shareholder, while bringing on board an experienced pharmaceutical group with the expertise to help take Goodlife to even greater heights. In a separate transaction announced earlier this month, Goodlife raised $12 million in debt financing from Proparco, the French development finance institution.
2. Tiger Brands VC fund invests in South African plant-based food company
Tiger Brands’ Venture Capital Fund has made its first investment in Herbivore Earthfoods, a Cape Town headquartered woman-founded business specialising in the manufacture and sale of plant-based and vegan products, a global market forecast to grow to over $162-billion by 2030. The African plant protein market, of which South Africa represents 57%, is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% to $560.62 million by 2023.
Together with co-investor, Secha Capital, an early-stage impact private equity firm, the Tiger Brands Venture Capital Fund has become a minority shareholder in the business, which is co-run by founder, Chanel Grantham and Davey du Plessis, Herbivore Earthfoods director.
3. Verod Capital invests in Nigerian pharmacy chain
Verod Capital, a West African private equity firm, has completed the acquisition of a significant minority equity stake in Medplus. The investment is from its latest fund, Verod Capital Growth Fund III, and is part of its broader strategy to deepen access and affordability in the healthcare sector.
Medplus is the largest Nigerian pharmaceutical retail business, with about three decades of successful operations. Medplus offers a robust product portfolio, retailing a variety of essential drugs, beauty products and everyday household items, through its e-commerce platform and across over 79 stores, to a large and growing consumer base.
4. Competition Commission prohibits sale of Ethos-backed Neopak to Corruseal
South Africa’s Competition Commission has prohibited the proposed merger whereby Corruseal Group intends to acquire Neopak because the merger is likely to result in a substantial prevention and lessening of competition.
In December 2021, Ethos Fund VI announced it has entered into a sale agreement in respect of South African paper and packaging supplier Neopak Holdings with the Corruseal Group.
Neopak and Corruseal are both active in the recycled paper value chain. In particular, the supply chain of Corruseal, is integrated. Its South African activities include: a) the collection and recycling of wastepaper; b) the manufacture and supply of recycled containerboard paper (the “upstream” market), and c) the manufacture of corrugated sheets/box packaging products using recycled containerboard paper as an input. (the “downstream” market”).
5. Helios in partial exit to Japanese company
Helios Investment Partners, the Africa-focused private investment firm, acting on behalf of funds it advises, and Sojitz Corporation, one of the leading conglomerate investment and trading houses listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, announced the completion of the sale by Helios of a 25% interest in the holding company of Axxela, the largest private sector gas distributor in Nigeria, to Sojitz. Helios retains a 75% interest in the company.
This transaction marks Sojitz’s first significant equity investment in Africa, indicating its growth ambitions on the continent and serving as a blueprint for future collaboration in Africa between Helios and Sojitz across a range of sectors.
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