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. Harith General Partners invests in Zimbabwe border post project
Harith General Partners, one of Africa’s largest infrastructure-focused private equity fund managers, has announced that despite being in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, the $296 million Zimbabwe Beitbridge border post complex public-private partnership has reached financial close.
Harith has acquired a significant equity stake in Zimborders Mauritius – the developer of this modern border-crossing facility and complex – through its Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2 (PAIDF-2). The Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund, an equity investor in infrastructure opportunities across Africa, is a co-investor with PAIDF-2 in this project.
The complex is situated at Beitbridge on the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe and is the busiest border post in Southern Africa. It not only connects South Africa to Zimbabwe but also acts as a key access point and gateway for trade between the Southern Africa Development Community nations, linking to the all-important Durban harbour.
2. African Infrastructure Investment Managers raises $80m
African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), one of Africa’s largest infrastructure-focused private equity fund managers, has successfully completed a capital increase of $80 million for its flagship pan-African infrastructure fund, AIIF3.
The capital increase takes the total commitments for AIIF3 to $400 million and represents one of the largest capital raises closed for an African fund since the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic.
3. Ethos Capital sells part of its shareholding in Channel VAS
Investment holding company Ethos Capital, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, has sold a 1.4% stake in Channel VAS, a provider of airtime credit services and mobile financial solutions across 28 countries in Africa. Ethos Capital sold the stake at a consideration of $5 million (R76.6 million).
The sale consideration has valued Ethos Capital’s stake in Channel VAS at $36.7 million (a 16% premium to the valuation as at 30 June 2020). Over the two-year hold period, this partial realisation delivered in ZAR a money back multiple of 1.6x and an IRR of 27%.
Post the transaction, Ethos Capital will retain an aggregate stake of 8.89% in Channel VAS with a valuation (based on the transaction value) of $31.7 million. The proceeds of the sale will be used to repay existing borrowings in Ethos Capital which will provide additional flexibility to execute on its strategies to enhance shareholder value.
4. Zebu Investment Partners commits $6.5m to AMC Trade Finance
Zebu Investment Partners has closed its investment in AMC Trade Finance (AMCTF) through its sophomore Africa Food Security (AFS) fund. AMCTF is a specialist trade finance institution, providing bespoke, secured and structured trade finance solutions for Africa-focused trade. The investment from AFS is a combination of equity and preference shares, enabling AMCTF to leverage and expand its loan book, to benefit trade and SMEs across sub-Saharan Africa.
With its inaugural transaction in 2016, AMCTF has since completed transactions in soft commodities such as cocoa, cashew and coffee, facilitating export and import trade in African countries including Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania with a strategy to bolster its pan-African origination, going forward.
5. Knife Capital and RMB invest in tech company
inQuba, a world-leader in customer journey management, has secured expansion capital from venture capital firm Knife Capital and African corporate and investment bank Rand Merchant Bank (RMB). This builds on the existing investor base that includes the founding team and ICT investment specialist Convergence Partners. The investment will further enhance inQuba’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) journey cloud platform capability and accelerate its international expansion drive.
Customer journey management tracks, analyses and optimises the manner in which prospects and customers traverse customer journeys and channels over time. inQuba uses diverse data sets of transactional and perceptual data, advanced analytics and machine learning to gain deep insights into customer journeys, customer behaviour and the overall customer experience. The company has clients across Africa, the USA and Asia-Pacific with a focus on financial services, insurance, telecommunications, e-commerce and retail industries.
Reach Africa’s private equity community by publishing a Showcase Article, Job Opportunity or Event on Africa Private Equity News. Contact us at editor@africaprivateequitynews.com for our rate card and more information.