Adenia raises fourth fund for Africa

Adenia Partners, the Mauritius-based firm focused on investing in sub-Saharan Africa, has launched fundraising for its fourth vehicle, Adenia managing partner Antoine Delaporte told Private Equity International.

The fund is targeting €200 million, which is more than double the size of its previous vehicle, but “reasonable”, Delaporte argued, as the firm has been able to invest more than €35 million in the past 15 months.

Adenia’s previous fund is a 2012-vintage vehicle that raised €95 million, while its second fund, a 2007 vehicle, raised €37.5 million, according to PEI Research & Analytics.

The firm is also aiming to shift the balance of its commitments from development finance institutions (DFIs) to private investors. These include institutions, family offices, wealthy investors, funds of funds, banks, insurance companies and pension funds from the US, Europe and Africa.

“We are on our fourth fund and we have a received a lot more interest and inquiries from commercial LPs,” Delaporte said.

Adenia’s previous vehicles targeted investments of €5-15 million, which will stretch to €20 million at the upper end for the new fund. “It’s a little bit bigger but not a jump,” Delaporte noted, adding that its last four investments averaged €12 million in size, while its target average is €14 million.

The firm looks for majority or control investments in companies with succession issues, and also spin offs, and will also invest growth capital. “We aim to create value through operational improvements and our strong preference is for control positions,” Delaporte said.

The vast majority of its investments are proprietary deals which, Delaporte conceded, “take a lot of time but are more lucrative.”

“There are not that many players in the €5-20 million control investments space in our countries,” he said.

Adenia focuses on businesses in Mauritius, Madagascar, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, where the firm has offices, as well as neighbouring countries.

Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are “destinations of prime importance”, Delaporte said, noting that, although the firm is sector agnostic, it sees opportunities there in the equipment industry, agri-businesses, such as fish and dairy, and fast-moving consumer goods sectors, including food.

The third fund completed its seventh investment last week, bringing it to more than 75 percent deployed with room undertake one further transaction, Delaporte said.

Its previous investments include a buyout of Cresta Paints Industries, the leading paints manufacturer in Ghana, Ghanaian outdoor advertising company DDP Outdoor and Mauritian paint and chemical company Mauvilac, according to its website.

In October the firm sold Hôtel de Louvre in Madagascar in which it invested growth capital in 2006. That exit completes the realisation of all six investments from Adenia Capital I, the firm said.

That followed the sale in September of Newpack, a Madagascan packaging company it acquired in 2008, which generated a 3x return for its second fund.

The firm is expanding and is in the process of recruiting for a senior and a junior investment manager.