Marlow Capital, a nascent private equity
firm founded by two HSBC bankers in Sub-Saharan Africa, has inked
its debut deal: the acquisition of waste management company Wasteman
Group.
Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed, although a
source close to the situation pegged the deal at around $50 million.
Marlow was established 18 months ago by two ex-investment bankers
with a view to executing buyouts in the Sub-Saharan African
mid-market. The two founders, Andrew Hunt and Sean Meyersfeld, were
latterly at HSBC where Hunt was the investment banking head for the
region and Meyersfeld was director.
The firm is seeking to capitalise on two underlying trends in
Sub-Saharan Africa: the growth in businesses benefitting from
increased infrastructure investment, such as Wasteman, and the
ongoing expansion of middle class consumers in the region.
“We’re not looking to participate directly in the commodities cycle,
so we haven’t been hit with the large downturn in that sector. We
still like the Sub Saharan Africa’s long-term fundamentals,” said
co-founder Andrew Hunt in an interview.
Infrastructure is proving to be a popular destination within
Southern Africa for private equity capital. Earlier this month
Kingdom Zephyr, a pan-African GP, made a $20 million investment in
Buildworks, a South African company which builds electrical
substations for the power industry. “We see growth in electrical
infrastructure for the next 10 to 20 years,” said Kingdom Zephyr
partner Panos Voutyritsas.
Marlow Capital is currently funding acquisitions on a deal by deal
basis, attracting commitments mainly from European family offices.
Hunt says the firm will look to raise their first time fund when
some normality returns to the fundraising market.
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