U.S. private equity firm TPG will invest
up to $1 billion in African companies under a tie-up with Sudanese
billionaire Mo Ibrahim’s Satya Capital, the companies said on Thursday.
TPG is a newcomer to Africa while Satya’s interests range from healthcare in Nigeria to manufacturing in Tanzania.
Satya will also make available an extra $300 million to $400 million for investment under the tie-up, Ibrahim told Reuters.
“Actually it is much more than that
because we will leverage this money as well,” Ibrahim said in a
telephone interview. “We are going to look at everything from $1 million
to $200 or $300 million investments.”
The partnership is a special purpose
vehicle called TPG Satya Ltd, and the companies, in a joint statement,
said it would focus on businesses in healthcare, information technology,
consumer and financial services, among other sectors.
“We know the good guys. We know the bad
guys. We know which countries have rule of law. We know which countries
don’t have rule of law,” Ibrahim said of Satya’s role.
Ibrahim said TPG’s funds would come from its middle market platform, TPG Growth.
William McGlashan, managing partner of
TPG Growth, told the Financial Times, which first reported the
partnership, that Africa is the last major market in which his company
has not yet invested.
Ibrahim said the idea for a partnership
came up when Satya and TPG executives spent a weekend at the house of U2
frontman, Bono, a mutual friend, who has long had an interest in
Africa.
REUTERS
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