DealMakers AFRICA
Nigerian B2B marketplace for auto dealers, Shekel Mobility, has raised over US$7 million in a debt and equity seed round. Ventures Platform, MaC Venture Capital, Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, Unpopular Ventures, Maiora Capital, PageOne Lab, Phoenix Investment Club, Heirloom VC, Pioneer Ventures and other angel investors provided the US$3,2 million equity funding with the remaining US$4 million in debt financed by Zedvance, VFD Microfinance Bank, Zenith Bank, Fluna and others. This is the second time the mobility fintech has raised funds this year – in January the team announced a US$1,95 million oversubscribed pre-seed round led by Ventures Platform. Other investors included Y Combinator, Voltron Capital, Zedcrest and some angel investors.
RMB has provided N$500 million in new debt funding and has refinanced a N$100 million loan for Oryx Properties to help fund the acquisition of Dunes Mall in Walvis Bay, Namibia. The property fund announced the acquisition in May and undertook a ‘rights offer’ to part fund the N$620 million purchase price among other things. The rights offer was 82.4% taken-up, raising N$312,9 million.
The Namibia Infrastructure Development and Investment Fund (NIDIF), managed by Eos Capital, has acquired a minority stake in the Namibian business of Lightstruck, a fibre infrastructure company specialising in open access last-mile fibre networks. Financial details were undisclosed.
Lapaire, an African eyecare business headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and operating 54 optical shops across seven African countries, has raised an undisclosed sum from Beyond Capital Ventures. The investment forms part of Lapaire’s Series B investment round. The Series B funding will aid the company’s plans to launch in five new markets including the DRC, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Tanzania.
Pan-African tech company, CSquared Link Holdings (Mauritius), announced an equity capital raise from both new and existing investors. The US$25 million in funding came from Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund (CPDIF), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Development Association’s (IDA) Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility. It was also announced that CPDIF had acquired Google LLC’s stake in CSquared.
PZ Cussons Nigeria has notified shareholders that the offer by majority shareholder PZ Cussons (Holdings) to acquire the remaining 26.73% held by minorities for ₦21 per share announced in September, has been increased to ₦23 per share.
Union Bank of Nigeria plc disclosed that the offer price to minorities had been increased from ₦7 per unit to ₦7.70 per unit. Titan Trust Bank acquired a majority stake in December 2021 and offered to buy out the remaining 6.59% stake from minorities through a mandatory offer in October 2022. The Bank is currently finalising the process of obtaining approval to delist from the NGX.
African Export and Import Bank (AFREXIM) has signed a debt funding package with Oando plc comprising a US$500 million senior secured reserved based lending facility and a US$300 million receivables backed term loan facility. The deal was signed at the Intra-Africa Trade Fair in Cairo, Egypt.
UAE-based Sky One has acquired a substantial stake in Libyan airliner Fly Oya. Financial terms were not disclosed.
ASX-listed 88 Energy has, through a newly formed subsidiary Eighty Eight Energy (Namibia), signed a three stage farm-in agreement with Monitor Oil and Gas Exploration (Namibia), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Monitor Exploration, to earn up to a 45% non-operated working interest in onshore Petroleum Exploration Licence 93 (PEL 93) located in Namibia’s Owambo Basin. The farm-in agreement schedule consists of three stages. Stage one: [20% working interest] the payment of US$3,7 million in consideration for past costs and the first US$3 million of the 2024 work programme. Stage two: [17.5% working interest] payment of US$7,5 million of the first well gross cost. Stage 3: [7.5% working interest] option to fund the first US$7,5million of the second well gross cost.
Holcim has announced the sale of its businesses in Uganda and Tanzania. In Uganda, Hima Cement has been sold to Sarrai Group for an enterprise value of US$120 million. In Tanzania, the 65% stake in Mbeya Cement Company has been sold to Amsons Group for an undisclosed sum.
Moroccan transport and logistics startup, CloudFret, has raised €2 million (US$2,1 million) from AfriMobility and Azur Innovation Fund. Operational in Morocco since 2021, the company expanded to Marseille and now looks to expand further with the introduction of an innovative solution geared towards optimising empty truck returns, with a focus on the intra-European market.
Akhdar has announced a six-figure investment from Value Maker Studios (VMS). The Egyptian edtech is an Arabic language platform that provides audiobook summaries. The funding will be used to expand its existing presence in Saudi Arabia.
SPE Capital and Proparco have sold Amanys Pharma to Laprophan for an undisclosed amount. The pair acquired the company in 2020 (known at the time as Saham Pharma) and this sale marks the second exit for SPE AIF.
DealMakers AFRICA is the Continent’s M&A publication.
www.dealmakersafrica.com
