Kusuntu Partners has launched a service for linking up the Africa focused private equity funds and investors to Africa small and growing businesses that are looking for growth and expansion capital.
The value of global private equity deals targeting Africa has more than doubled (137%) in the first half of 2014 compared to the same period last year, according to research by global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Private equity and the growth of pension funds provide a massive opportunity to finance investment in Africa, industry experts have said.
Gulf Capital, an alternative asset manager in the Middle East, has invested $25m in Amak Group, a provider of integrated petroleum services for the onshore and offshore sectors in Egypt.
The AfricInvest Group has first closed its multi-sector private equity fund AfricInvest Fund III with a size exceeding €154m ($194.83m) in capital commitments.
Acumen, a non-profit global venture fund, together with Novastar Ventures, have announced a €2m ($2.5m) equity investment in SolarNow, an Uganda-based company that sells modular high quality solar home systems to rural populations across the country.
The Abraaj Group has acquired a majority stake in Liberty Star Consumer Holdings, one of the largest unlisted food and personal care manufacturers in South Africa, for an undisclosed sum.
LeapFrog Investments has sold its minority stake in Apollo Investments to Swiss Re.
The private equity asset class in South Africa continues to deliver a sturdy performance with funs yielding an annualised rate of return of 18.6% over the ten years to the end of June 2014, according to the latest RisCura-SAVCA South African Private Equity Performance Report. Ten-year returns decreased slightly compared with those measured during the previous quarter, as some of the firm gains made during the period of strong economic growth of the early 2000s, when returns averaged 37.9%, begin to have less significance.
Wananchi Group has attracted $130m in a funding round led by Helios Investment Partners and the existing strategic shareholders Altice SA, Liberty Global, ECP and ATMT, to fund its growth and expansion in East and Southern Africa.
Vantage Capital has provided approximately R80m ($7.28m) of funding to facilitate a management buy-out of Dynamic Bedding, South Africa’s largest specialist bed group.
The African Agriculture Fund (AAF), managed by Phatisa, has invested in the Meridian Group, a $250m (revenue) business with operations in Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mauritius.
Adenia Partners, a private equity firm investing in the Indian Ocean and West Africa regions, has acquired Mauvilac, a paint, coatings and chemical products manufacturer and marketer in Mauritius.
The Dutch fund manager XSML has invested in Hydrotek SARL, based in Lubumbashi, DRC.
