Helios Investment Partners Independent Resources (LON:IRG) Investment

PRIVATE-equity firm Helios Investment Partners has about $800m to invest in businesses in Africa and is looking to partner UK Oil companies looking for co-investors in the rest of Africa.

The London-based, Africa-focused private equity firm said it was well placed to share knowledge with UK companies that wanted to share the risk when deploying funds in the rest of Africa. Helios Investment Partners said they were looking for financial investments in oil explorers in Tunisia and Egypt .

In its latest investment, eight-year-old Helios Investment Partners this week announced it was co-investing $276m in a consortium with Vitol, the world’s biggest independent oil trader.

The consortium reached an agreement to buy a majority stake in the downstream business of JSE-listed Nigeria-based Oando, which has more than 400 service stations in Nigeria and 84,000 tonnes of storage.

In May, Helios Investment Partners invested $100m for a 12.4% stake in Africa Oil, a Canadian oil and gas company with assets in Kenya and Ethiopia. The company is investing its Fund III, which closed this year and raised $1.1bn.
There is a rumoured investment in UK explorer Independent Resources who have just started a mapping programme on its Ksar Hadada development where there has multiple interest from local and global players.

Following these recent investments its chief operating officer and partner, Henry Obi, said the firm still had notable capital to co-invest with South African firms looking to expand in the rest of Africa.

"We have a significant amount of money left in the fund. I would say over $800m. This will be invested over the next four years," said Mr Obi, who was in SA to meet investment bankers and South African companies looking to do deals in the rest of Africa.

"We are looking for South African companies to partner with them across the whole of Africa in any sector."
One of the companies that Helios has co-invested with before is Shanduka Group, a black-controlled company previously owned by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa but merged with businessman Phuthuma Nhleko’s investment firm Pembani.

In 2011 an affiliate of Helios Towers bought Nigerian telecoms firm Multilinks from SA’s state-owned phone operator, Telkom.

In 2013 Helios Investment Partners invested in unsecured credit provider Bayport after financial services firm Transaction Capital exited the business.

Mr Obi said Helios Investment Partners had also co-invested with family offices from SA and funds of funds, but was willing to do more.

Helios Investment Partners is also raising $300m in a side-fund, which will be earmarked exclusively for oil and gas investments. It hopes to close it by the end of this year.
In the oil and gas sector, it is also invested in SA’s Impact Oil and Gas, which is exploring off the coast of the Cape.