Old Mutual Raises $320 Million for Africa Infrastructure Deals
Old Mutual Raises $320 Million for Africa Infrastructure Deals
(Bloomberg) -- Old Mutual Ltd. raised $320 million through its African Infrastructure Investment Managers fund to invest in transport, power and energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa.
The fund attracted investments from the Dutch and African development banks, the U.K. development finance institution CDC Group, as well as institutional investors from Africa and Asia, according to its investment director.
“Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the biggest disconnect between demand for critical infrastructure and the supply of available capital to fund such projects,” Paul Frankish said in an interview. “Our focus will be to pick up mid-market deals with shorter construction periods than the mega infrastructural deals.”
Old Mutual has so far raised $2.2 billion for its AIIM fund and this is the seventh round. The lender is one of several private fund managers looking at African assets as an economic recovery boosts investor sentiment and infrastructure plans. Helios Investments plans to raise as much as $1.25 billion to invest across the continent, people familiar with the matter said in May.
Old Mutual recently exited its investments in Nigeria’s 450 MW Azura-Edo power plant that can supply 14 million homes with electricity and Kenya’s second-largest wind energy plant Kipeto.
To contact the reporter on this story: Loni Prinsloo in Johannesburg at lprinsloo3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Stefania Bianchi, John Bowker
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