Adenia Partners is building a new fund that targets $400 million of resources. The project has attracted the interest of several institutional investors, including the U.S. DFC, which pledges $40 million for the vehicle.

Adenia Partners, a private equity firm incorporated in Mauritius with a portfolio of 13 active investments in Africa, has received $40 million from the US International Finance Development Corporation, we learned. The resources will be injected into the beneficiary’s fifth investment fund (Adenia Capital V) currently under construction.

This equity investment will allow Adenia Capital V to “make growth-control investments that enable mid-stage companies across Africa to build out their management teams, expand their geographic footprint, and improve their environmental, social, and governance standards while promoting women's economic empowerment.”

As a reminder, Adenia Partners launched its first vehicle, Adenia Capital I, in 2003 with €10 million. The second, Adenia Capital (II), followed in 2007 with €37 million in commitments, before Adenia Capital (III) in 2012 with €95.8 million in commitments and Adenia Capital (IV) in 2016 with €230 million. For the fund under construction, Adenia Partners' managing partners are targeting $400 million with a closing expected in September 2022.

The vehicle will target companies in the financial services, agribusiness, consumer goods, telecommunications, healthcare, education, business services, and hospitality sectors. In addition to DFC, it has attracted the interest of other institutions such as the International Finance Corporation and the Dutch development finance agency (FMO).

Adenia has already announced three transactions in 2022, including a $130 million investment in Eastcastle Infrastructure, a group of telecom towers created by former Eaton Towers executives. This financing round was co-led alongside African Infrastructure Investment Managers.

The PE firm also acquired Africa Biosystems Ltd. (ABL), a distributor of life science and clinical diagnostic equipment in East Africa, based in Kenya and with offices in Uganda and Tanzania. The latest investment announced is the acquisition of a majority stake in Herholdt's, a distributor of low voltage electrical and solar products; the firm's first first-ever investment in South Africa.

Idriss Linge