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. Nigeria’s CardinalStone announces final close of PE fund
CardinalStone Capital Advisers, a Lagos based private equity fund manager, has announced the final close of its maiden private equity fund, the CardinalStone Capital Advisers Growth Fund LP (CCAGF) at $64 million.
The fund which recorded its first close in December 2018 and final close in September 2020, was established to support the growth and institutionalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in two of West Africa’s leading economies – Nigeria and Ghana.
The CCAGF is a generalist fund that makes equity investments of $5 million – $10 million in high growth SMEs operating across a range of sectors which include industrials, agribusiness, consumer goods and services, education, healthcare and financial services. CCAGF investors, which are a mix of commercial and development finance institutions, include Kuramo Capital, the UK Government’s CDC Group, FMO – the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and a number of high-net-worth individuals.
2. EXEO Capital invests in South African consumer health businesses
Pan-African alternative investment firm EXEO Capital announced its recent investment in the Maia Group through its food and agribusiness fund, Agri-Vie Fund II.
The Maia Group, established by Simon Alston and Stuart Sinclair, is a holding company focused on consumer health businesses and currently includes Wellness Warehouse and True Health Holdings. Wellness Warehouse is a leading natural health, food, beauty and homecare retailer, and True Health Holdings is a manufacturer, wholesaler and distributor to the broader natural healthcare market.
3. J.P. Morgan Private Bank closes Global Impact Fund
J.P. Morgan Private Bank announced the final closing of its Global Impact Fund, with total investable capital of more than $150 million. The fund, which began investing in December 2020, has already committed to four underlying impact venture, growth and buyout managers, in addition to executing two co-investments.
The Global Impact Fund targets three significant investment themes that represent both meaningful growth opportunities and the potential to make a measurable positive impact on the world: inclusive growth, climate solutions and health and wellness. The fund offers a diversified portfolio of impact private investment funds constructed with the intent to advance progress toward specific UN Sustainable Development Goals. Additionally, the fund is inclusive of diverse managers, which adds significant representation among the investment teams.
4. Amethis acquires stake in Moroccan irrigation company
Private equity firm Amethis has acquired a majority stake in Magriser Group, one of the pioneers in the distribution and installation of turnkey micro-irrigation and solar pumping systems.
Established in 1987 by Azzedine Azzouz, Magriser was one of the forerunners of the micro irrigation technique in Morocco. The group offers a full line of micro-irrigation equipment ranging from basins coverings, PVC and micro-irrigation pipes to filtration and fertigation systems. In addition to its core business of distributing micro-irrigation equipment, Magriser diversified its product portfolio by offering solar pumping systems and completed its solutions offering by proposing consulting and installation of turnkey micro-irrigation systems.
5. Ingressive Capital backs Ghanaian agtech platform
Venture capital firm Ingressive Capital has invested in Ghanaian digital agriculture value chain startup Complete Farmer.
Complete Farmer has been envisioned to be an end-to-end platform for the three key stakeholders in the agriculture value chain: food growers, food buyers and food lovers. The aim is to get these stakeholders interacting with each other in a manner that increases transparency and efficiency for all these stakeholders.
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