New Delhi, Sept. 9 -- Vantage Capital, an Africa-focused mid-market fund manager, has exited its investment in a Moroccan information technology group after six years of investment.
The Johannesburg-headquartered private equity firm has fully exited its investment in Equity Invest, which operates six companies spanning various segments of the information technology space. Equity Invest's business lines include electronic security, audiovisual multimedia systems, renewable energy, digital payments, e-commerce and hospital management software.
Vantage had invested €8 million ($9.4 million) in Equity Invest through a mezzanine finance facility in October 2019. The funding enabled founder Ali Bettahi to secure a controlling stake in one of the group's flagship subsidiaries, Unisystem Group, by buying out a private equity investor. Since then, the group has consolidated its position in Morocco and expanded into new markets in sub-Saharan Africa
"Equity Invest was our first investment in Morocco. The transaction, which consisted of a leveraged management buyout funded by a structured mezzanine finance instrument, was also a first-of-its-kind in the Kingdom," said Luc Albinski, executive chairman at Vantage Capital. ".our partnership enabled Vantage to establish a presence in Morocco, which has since grown to become one of our key markets and where we are proud to have now concluded four investments over six years," he added.
Founded in 2001, Vantage Capital has raised over $1.6 billion so far. Since 2006, its mezzanine division has made 39 investments across four successive funds in 11 African countries, making it the largest and most experienced independent mezzanine fund manager in Africa.
Its recent deals include an $18.5 million investment in Procera Group, a South African BPO firm, involving both a significant minority equity stake and a mezzanine facility to support acquisitions.
In 2023, Vantage Capital deployed capital in two companies: Moroccan medical devices producer Promamec, and water security solutions provider Aquasantec.
Its latest fund Vantage Mezzanine Fund IV closed in 2022, raising $378 million. It will focus on the African mid-market sector and aims to make 76% of the investment in US dollar and euro-denominated investments across Africa, and 24% in rand-denominated deals in Southern Africa.
Key backers of the fund include European and US commercial investors, as well as a host of development finance institutions (DFIs), including World Bank's private investment arm International Finance Corporation (IFC), British International Investment (BII), Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), The Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (SIFEM), Norfund, Swedfund, Finnfund, and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Vantage's $150 million inaugural mezzanine fund, raised in 2006, invested in five South African companies. Its second $240 million mezzanine fund, raised in 2012, invested in a portfolio of 13 companies across Africa. The third mezzanine fund of $287 million, raised in 2015, made 13 investments across the continent.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from VC Circle.