Apis Partners, a private equity asset manager focused on financial services in Africa and South Asia, has reached a first close for Apis Growth Fund I with capital commitments of more than US$157 million. Investors in the first close included development finance institutions CDC Group, FMO and Swedfund; European Union… Read More
Download the full brief here. Why Do First-time Funds Matter? First-time funds, defined here as an asset manager’s first private equity (PE) vehicle, have historically accounted for a significant share of fundraising activity in emerging markets (EM). Between 2008 and the first quarter of 2015, 286 first-time funds… Read More
Africa-focused private investment firm Helios Investment Partners has agreed to acquire a 100 percent stake in Crown Agents Bank (CAB) and Crown Agents Investment Management (CAIM) from international development company Crown Agents. CAB and CAIM are financial services providers focused on the needs of governments, development organizations, financial institutions and… Read More
Bima, a provider of mobile-delivered insurance in emerging markets, has raised US$38.4 million in Series C funding from existing shareholders, including emerging markets financial services investor LeapFrog Investments, Swedish investment firm Kinnevik, international telecommunications and media company Millicom, global telecommunications provider Digicel Group and individual investors. The fresh capital will… Read More
The United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) has announced a GBP735 million (approximately US$1.15 billion) investment, over a three-year period, in development finance institution CDC Group. The new capital injection will allow CDC to target more support to developing countries. Read More
Incofin Investment Management, an impact investment fund manager focused on rural and agricultural finance, has reached a first close for its agRIF Fund with US$71 million in capital commitments. The fund will invest in financial intermediaries across emerging markets. Investors in the first close included European Union lender European Investment… Read More
Key findings from the 2015 LP Survey: Over the next two years, 33% of LPs* plan to increase the percentage of their total PE allocation targeted at emerging markets (versus 41% in the 2014 survey), and 47% of LPs* anticipate increasing the dollar value of new commitments to EM… Read More
Over the last six months, crude oil prices have fallen from over US$100 to less than US$50 per barrel. While the macroeconomic effects of this decline—falling commodity prices, currency volatility, trimmed economic growth forecasts and more—are far-reaching and varied, particularly in emerging markets, the effect of this drop on the private… Read More
Erik Bethel, Managing Director, Darby Private Equity Over the past several months, no news has garnered more attention than the spirited decline in the price of oil and its effects on trade, markets and politics. Naturally, oil’s tumble has affected the markets in which Darby operates, as well as our… Read More
Richard Rincon, Investment Officer, EM PE, UTIMCO The recent decline in oil prices has had a mild positive effect on our overall portfolio primarily thanks to overall geographic and sector portfolio diversification. Over the medium- and long-term, we believe the majority of our portfolio will end up benefiting… Read More
(default archive template)