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. AfricInvest closes the largest fund in its history
AfricInvest announced the final close of AfricInvest IV, with total commitments of $411 million. Launched two years ago with a hard cap of $400 million, AfricInvest IV received investment from new and returning institutional investors, development finance institutions and family offices from around the world. The fund is the largest in AfricInvest’s history and follows on from the previous flagship fund, AfricInvest III, which closed in 2016, reaching a fund size of €272 million ($300 million).
Like its predecessors, AfricInvest IV aims to invest in mature and profitable African mid-cap companies across diverse sectors to accelerate their regional growth and deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns.
2. South Africa: Phatisa leads DFI consortium investment into food business
Phatisa, together with a consortium of development finance institutions (DFIs), has acquired a significant minority stake in South African-based citrus and fresh-produce exporter, Lona Group, for an undisclosed sum. The investment will be used as expansion capital.
The DFI co-investors are British International Investment (BII – formerly known as CDC Group), Norfund, and Finnfund – all of whom are also investors in Phatisa Food Fund 2, raised last year.
3. Kenya: Ascent Capital in hospital deal
The Ascent Rift Valley Fund II, an East African private equity fund, has acquired a significant equity stake in Valley Hospital located in Nakuru City, Kenya.
Founded in 1996, Valley Hospital was one of the first private for-profit hospitals in Nakuru City and a pioneer in offering quality and affordable medical services to the residents of Nakuru. With 72 beds and accredited by all players in the insurance industry, Valley Hospital is one of the main hospitals in Nakuru County.
4. Mediterrania Capital exits financial services group to DPI
Mediterrania Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on growth investments for SMEs and mid-cap companies in North Africa and sub-Saharan countries, announced the sale of its stake in Groupe Cofina, a meso-finance and transactional financial services institution in West and Central Africa, to the private equity group Development Partners International (DPI).
Based in Abidjan, Groupe Cofina was founded by Jean-Luc Konan in 2014 with the stated mission of helping entrepreneurs and SMEs obtain medium- or long-term financing. Nowadays the group provides a wide range of banking products, including national and international cash transfers as well as financing solutions and related advisory services to its more than 254,000 customers. Groupe Cofina operates in eight countries in Africa: Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Gabon, Mali, Congo Brazzaville, Burkina Faso and Togo, and it employs more than 1,400 people.
In April 2018, Mediterrania Capital Partners entered Cofina’s equity by acquiring a significant minority stake. The investment, aimed at supporting Cofina’s ambitious geographic and products expansion plans, helped to significantly broaden the group’s portfolio and its customer reach.
5. Kenya: Victory Farms raises $5m
Aquaculture company Victory Farms announced a $5 million fundraise led by DOB Equity, the Dutch-based growth equity funder, and Ed Brakeman, senior managing director at Bain Capital. The funding will support the company’s continued growth in Kenya, and expansion into new countries in the East Africa region.
Victory Farms was founded in 2015. Today it operates as a vertically integrated business, with its own hatchery, nursery ponds and deep-water cages in Lake Victoria, plus a processing plant and a cold chain and distribution network comprising 50+ wholly-owned retail branch locations.
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