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. EXEO Capital exits investment in olive supplier
Pan-African alternative investment firm EXEO Capital announced the exit of its food and agribusiness fund, Agri-Vie Fund I, from Cape Olive Holdings – one of the largest table olive suppliers in South Africa.
Izak Strauss, partner and co-founder of EXEO Capital, explains that the firm had sold its 62.7% share, which the EXEO Agri-Vie Fund I acquired at the beginning of 2013, to Imibala, a subsidiary of the Lona Group and co-shareholder in Cape Olive. “The reason for the sale is that Agri-Vie Fund I has reached the end of its life after 12 years and is completing the exits from the last of its investments. The return on the investment was in line with our expectations.”
2. AIIM makes follow-on investment in South African fibre company
African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), one of Africa’s largest infrastructure-focused private equity fund managers, along with a consortium comprising South African Housing & Infrastructure Fund (SAHIF), through its Digital Infrastructure Consortium platform and STOA, a foreign investment vehicle based in France, have agreed to acquire a 25.8% interest in MetroFibre Networx (MFN) held by Sanlam Private Equity, African Rainbow Capital and a minority shareholder. This transaction follows the ZAR1.5 billion (about $108.8 million) equity funding round concluded in December 2020 by AIIM, SAHIF and STOA in order to support MetroFibre’s ZAR3 billion (about $217.6 million) capital expansion plan over the next three years.
The transaction also introduces the Old Mutual Hybrid Equity Fund 1 General Partnership, managed by Hybrid Equity (HE), a division of Old Mutual Alternative Investments (OMAI), as funding provider to SAHIF, which is owned by Rali Mampeule and Kameel Keshav and is the strategic empowerment partner to MFN.
3. Salt Capital exits Deep Catch Namibia Holdings
Imperial, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Imperial Capital Limited, has entered into a sale of shares agreement for the acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Deep Catch Namibia Holdings (Deep Catch) for an estimated purchase consideration of N$633 million (about $45 million), from an investment consortium led by Salt Capital. The consortium includes the German development finance institution (DEG) and management shareholders.
Fifty percent of the payment to management shareholders will be deferred and paid in three equal tranches in FY22, FY23 and FY24, based on the performance of Deep Catch.
Deep Catch is a diversified and vertically integrated business engaged in the wholesale, distribution and cold storage of perishable foods (mainly poultry, fish and dairy products) in Namibia and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Headquartered in Namibia with subsidiaries in Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia, Deep Catch employs over 480 people and serves customers in the wholesale, hospitality and retail sectors including exporting Namibian and South African food products to other SADC markets.
4. Kenya: The BUILD Fund, managed by Bamboo, makes first investment
The BUILD Fund, an impact fund created in partnership between Bamboo Capital Partners and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), has made its inaugural investment, providing a $500,000 working capital facility for Mwezi Ltd, a Kenyan distributor of solar products.
Mwezi is a last-mile solar energy solutions distributor targeting rural Kenya. The company provides high-quality solar-powered products. Mwezi offers customers access to these products through a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solution to address the financing barriers that have historically held back low-income households in rural sub-Saharan Africa from affording clean energy.
5. East Africa: Vital Capital makes two investments
Vital Capital, an impact investor in sub-Saharan Africa, has announced the approval of two new loans from its Vital Impact Relief Facility (VIRF), which was launched last year to help fundamentally sound African businesses navigate short-term challenges.
The two loans were made to Sollatek, a manufacturer of solar and voltage control products, and Privamnuts, a macadamia nut processor and exporter which is leading the modernisation of the macadamia industry in Kenya.
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