Africa Deal Roundup: 15 noteworthy deals and announcements in May

Development Partners International has announced the second investment from its third fund, ADP III, into Société Industrielle des Conserves Alimentaires (SICAM), a food business and tomato processor in Tunisia.

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A selection of private equity deal, fundraising and exit announcements that came across our desk in May 2020.

Deals

Development Partners International, a pan-African private equity firm, has announced the second investment from its third fund, ADP III, into Société Industrielle des Conserves Alimentaires (SICAM), a food business and tomato processor in Tunisia.

Helium Health, a Lagos-based healthcare technology company, has completed a $10 million series-A funding round, co-led by Global Ventures and Asia Africa Investment & Consulting with participation from Tencent, Ohara Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, HOF Capital, Y Combinator, VentureSouq, Chrysalis Capital, Kairos Angels and Flying Doctors Healthcare Investment Company.

Pearl Capital Partners, which manages the Yield Uganda Investment Fund, has made its seventh investment of UGX 4.6 billion (about $1.2 million) in Ugandan seed company NASECO.

Syafunda, a South African educational platform that provides access to digital content through mobile technology, has received investment funding from Edge Growth.

Mediterrania Capital Partners has announced the acquisition of MetaMed, the largest platform of diagnostic imaging centres in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The investment was led by Mediterrania Capital Partners through its fund MC III and included Mediterrania Capital’s fund investors FMO, Proparco, DEG and EBRD.

Zoscales Partners has made an investment into Pioneer Diagnostics Center, a diagnostic imaging service provider in Ethiopia.

Fundraising

French development finance institution Proparco has made a $20 million investment in the SPE AIF I fund, a private equity fund managed by SPE Capital, which supports companies meeting the needs of the middle classes in North Africa, particularly Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

Development finance institution FinDev Canada is considering a $20 million investment in the African Development Partners III fund, managed by private equity firm DPI. The fund will provide growth capital to support the expansion of private companies across Africa.

Cepheus Growth Capital Partners, a private equity firm that invests in Ethiopian businesses, is finalising the fundraising for its first $100 million fund. The fund will deploy capital to the manufacturing, agro-processing and services sectors.

The Novastar Ventures Africa Fund II (NVAF II), managed by Nairobi and Lagos based Novastar Ventures, has reached a final close of $108 million (a 35% uplift on Novastar’s maiden fund). NVAF II is backing the next generation of entrepreneurs in Africa addressing proven demand for basic goods and services with innovative business models that widen access, improve quality, and lower cost for the mass market in these emerging economies. NVAF II received backing from several European development finance institutions (including the CDC Group, European Investment Bank, Dutch Good Growth Fund and FMO) as well as private asset managers such as AXA Impact Fund.

The Soros Economic Development Fund has committed $10 million to Alitheia IDF, a private equity fund managed by a joint venture between Alitheia Capital of Nigeria, and IDF Capital of South Africa. Alitheia IDF is one of the first women-led private equity funds in the region.

Exits

Vantage Capital, Africa’s largest mezzanine debt fund manager, announced that it has fully exited its investment in Vumatel, the largest fibre-to-the-home network provider in South Africa. Vantage invested in Vumatel in 2016.

Actis, an investor of private capital into global emerging markets, has exited its majority stake in GHL Bank, a full-scale commercial bank in Ghana, to First National Bank Ghana, a 100% subsidiary of South Africa’s FirstRand Group. Actis took over the investment in 2019 when it took over the management of Abraaj Africa Fund III. The fund invested in GHL Bank in 2016. This is the third exit from the Abraaj Africa funds since Actis assumed management rights.

Alongside Rand Merchant Bank Ventures (RMBV) and other shareholders, Ninety One, via its Africa Private Equity Fund 2, has sold a portion of its equity investment in Kamoso Africa to the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC). Ninety One and RMBV acquired a controlling stake in Kamoso in 2017. BDC acquired a 24% shareholding in Kamoso and has joined the board. The BDC is Botswana’s main agency for commercial and industrial development and is 100% owned by the Government of Botswana.

African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) announced the successful divestment of AIIF2’s 14% stake in Cookhouse, a 139MW wind farm, and 34% stake in REISA, a 75MW solar PV facility. The assets were sold to AIIM’s IDEAS Managed Fund, one of the largest equity investors in South African renewables sector.


Further reading

[May 2020] Interview: Why AgVentures is betting on agrifood tech in Africa
[May 2020] Investment firm Accion explains why it backed Nairobi-based Apollo Agriculture
[April 2020] Investor shares an honest account of what it’s really like fundraising a VC fund in Africa
[April 2020] After a decade of building and investing in African companies, Emilian Popa explains why he is bullish on these five industries
[March 2020] Kenya-based investor sees opportunity in Covid-19 crisis