BPE Secures Egyptian Pharma Platform Deal, Boosting Healthcare Sector
Last week in brief… Egypt and Morocco were at the center of the key deal and fundraising activity in Africa last week. We led with the news that Cairo-based BPE Partners and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt are joining forces to back the launch of EZ International, a new pharmaceutical distribution and logistics platform being set up by El-Ezaby Pharmacy, a leading pharmaceutical chain with more than 250 locations across Egypt. The investment will be made as part of a two-year capital increase plan, providing El-Ezaby Pharmacy with the cash to launch EZ International and exploit the opportunities offered by the country’s EGP 130 billion (or $4.25 billion) market for pharmaceuticals.
STOA Infra & Energy is making its first investment in Morocco, teaming up with Rabat-headquartered private equity firm CDG Invest to invest MAD458 million (or $46 million at current rates) in Groupe Oncorad, a privately held operator of oncology and radiology services. CDG is already an existing shareholder in the business, having first backed it in 2019. It’s expected the investment will help Groupe Oncorad raise more than MAD2 billion (or $200 million) as additional debt financing to support the business’s expansion plans, expanding the number of clinics it operates from 7 today to 30 by the end of 2026.
An investment in a Moroccan pharmaceutical business led by Mediterrania Capital Partners has now won all necessary approvals from antitrust regulators. The Malta-headquartered private equity firm and its three DFI co-investors – DEG, FMO, and Proparco – can now move ahead and acquire a minority stake in Casablanca-based Laprophan, supporting the well-established firm’s growth plans both at home and overseas. Currently, the company, which employs 1000 people, operates manufacturing and distribution facilities in Casablanca, serving the market with more than 160 pharmaceutical products.
RMBV‘s third North Africa Fund looks set to win a commitment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (or EBRD). If approved, the development finance institution will invest up to $60 million in the fund, making a first-time commitment to an investment vehicle sponsored by the private equity fund manager. RMBV typically invests between $10 million and $50 million in equity or equity-linked capital in midcap companies in North Africa, primarily Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia. The firm invests its funds in businesses operating in a variety of sectors, with an emphasis on opportunities related to the region’s consumer, healthcare, education, and financial services industries.
In the only other fund-related piece of news we covered last week, Visa‘s “She’s Next” program has made a grant to the African Women Impact Fund Initiative (AWIF) which has been awarded to three women fund managers in Africa. The three – SME.NG, Altree Capital, and Maia Capital Partners – were selected following an intensive due diligence process managed by RisCura, AWIF’s investment manager, to ensure the grant recipients and their operations aligned with the objectives of both Visa’s and AWIF’s programs.
Capping off a busy three weeks, Vantage Capital announced a full exit last week from an investment the mezzanine fund manager made in 2018 in a mixed-use, residentially focused real estate development on the west coast of Mauritius. The deal, which at the time was Vantage’s first investment in Mauritius, saw the South African fund manager invest $10 million into Cap Tamarin, a “Smart & Happy” Village being developed by Trimetys, a diversified group that has been undertaking projects on the island since 1998. The exit was financed by a capital raise made up of equity and debt, part of which will provide additional support for Trimetys’s plans to expand the development further.
SolarWorks!, an off-grid renewable energy business operating in Southern Africa, has successfully completed a recapitalization deal with its existing investors, issuing fresh equity and debt, as well as restructuring some of its existing liabilities. In wrapping up the recapitalization, it’s expected that the firm is better positioned to take advantage of expansion opportunities. The lion’s share of the $5.3 million additional equity invested in the recap. is being provided by EDP and Persistent Energy, while SIMA Funds’ Energy Access Relief Fund is providing an additional $2 million in loans. An additional $8.5 million of the company’s debt is being restructured via a mix of equity conversions, debt write-offs, and maturity extensions. The terms of each aspect of the recapitalization have not been disclosed.
Following JSE-listed Aveng’s disposal of Trident Steel to a consortium of private investors based in South Africa and the United States, Washington, DC-headquartered Delphos has coordinated a mix of trading lines and medium-term debt financing totaling R1.2 billion (or $67 million) to support the specialized steel business’s growth plans. The terms of the financing, which is being provided by ABSA Bank and Standard Bank of South Africa, have not been disclosed. Trident Steel was launched in the early 1970s, since when it has grown into a significant supplier of steel selling to a wide range of customers in southern Africa.
The Mineworker’s Investment Company is making a venture investment in Quro Medical, a healthcare technology startup that aims to build a virtual hospital on the continent providing patients with clinically appropriate and patient-centric hospital-level care in their own homes. The investment firm’s early-stage investment fund, MIC Khulisani Ventures, is investing $1.3 million into the startup which will use the capital to continue developing its technology and building out its roster of customers.
And finally, after nearly 7 years at leading Africa-focused private equity firm Development Partners International (DPI), Jean-Philippe Syed has joined X12 Capital, a strategic advisory and investment firm launched last year in Abu Dhabi. As a Partner, he’ll invest in special situations and other high-potential opportunities across the private equity, private debt, public capital markets, commodities, and real estate asset classes.
That’s it for this week. As mentioned at the top of the page, you can review these and other stories by clicking through to this week’s preview edition of the newsletter.
Source: Africa Capital Digest