Africa's first and only SPAC raises £350m, EDF Group parallel acquisition in Kenya, Cameroon's Diool new $3.5m investment round.
Welcome to our weekly round-up of the most important news dominating the world of business and finance in Africa.
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Private Equity :
SunCulture a Kenyan-based solar energy company has received a credit facility of $11million led by a leading lender to solar energy project in Africa SunFinder. The funding will increase SunCulture’s market position in offering irrigation-based solar energy solutions across Africa.
South Africa-based private equity firm Hiayisani Capital announced its first closing of $24 million for its first Hiayisani Growth Fund. The new fund will target high growth opportunities in key sectors like ICT, manufacturing, agriculture, education, and health.
Venture Capital Deals:
Cameroonian mobile payment start-up Diool has raised $3.5 million led by the Lundin Group, investors in the energy and mining industries. The funding will be used to develop its payment services, growp the team and increase their market penetration in Cameroon and other African markets.
Tyme Bank a South Africa-based digital retail bank has raised $109 million from UK based Apis Partners through its Apis Growth Fund II and leading Philippines conglomerates Gokongwei-owned JS Summit Holdings. The funding which will come in two tranches and will be used to expand its market presence and products offering.
Angola-based crowdfunding platform Deya has raised a pre-seed round of $50,000. The funding will be used to develop the platform’s intellectual property, expand its product offering and generate revenue.
M & A Activities:
EDF Group a global leader low carbon energy has acquired a 23% stake in Bboxx Kenya an off-grid solar utility provider in addition to its 50% stake in Bboxx Togo. The French group has also acquired a 50% equity stake in Econet Energy Kenya a B2B solar energy distributor to banks, health companies, and data centers. The investment will strengthen the group position in Kenya.
Africa Focused Convergence Partners has acquired the South Africa Operations of Ctrack a telematics SaaS on fleet management and asset tracking solutions for $36.2million in an all cash transaction. This is the initial investment for its third fund Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund ( CPDIF).
Nigeria-based Tangerine Life Insurance has concluded the merger of ARM life PLC. The merger consolidates Tangerine's position as a leading provider of financial services with a broad range of retail and annuity-based product offerings.
Sanlam Private Equity (SPE) has acquired South Africa-based agribusiness group Cavalier Group of Companies. The investment will enable the Cavalier Group to increase its production capacity especially in meat production and enter into new markets with its food products.
Liquidity Actions:
Liquid Telecom Africa’s largest fiber-optic company has raised $840 million in a bond sale listed on the Euronext dublin exchange. The fundraising includes $100 from the international finance corporation (IFC).
Africa Gold Acquisition, a blank check company SPAC has raised $360 million by offering 36 million units at $10. Being the only African SPAC, it will be targeting the emerging opportunities in the continent’s mining industry.
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