Brexit Offers Lifeline on $800 Billion Emerging Company Debt

Brexit Offers Lifeline on $800 Billion Emerging Company Debt

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: Britain’s vote to exit the European Union has thrown a lifeline to emerging-market companies facing an $800 billion wall of maturing debt. By hindering the Federal Reserve’s plan to raise interest rates, the referendum result has led to speculation borrowing costs will remain lower for longer as policy makers attempt to prevent Europe’s turmoil turning into a recession. This means developing-nation companies that borrowed when it was cheaper to do so won’t have…

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Managing and Mitigating Risk in Mergers and Acquisitions

Managing and Mitigating Risk in Mergers and Acquisitions

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: A fragile global economy, coupled with local market uncertainty, and concerns over the recovery of equity markets followed by a business environment that places increasing pressures on profitability has significantly increased the complexity of deal making today. Corporate governance issues are paramount and regulatory and compliance issues demand that greater caution be exercised in ensuring that proper due diligence is conducted in assessing transactions and their associated risks. Notwithstanding…

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Kenya Bank | Capital Injection Gives Fresh-Faced Kenyan Bank Room to Expand

Kenya Bank | Capital Injection Gives Fresh-Faced Kenyan Bank Room to Expand

NAIROBI, Kenya, Capital Markets in Africa: A series of capital injections is giving a small Kenyan bank the space to expand at a time when many lenders in East Africa’s largest economy are struggling to overcome the fallout of three failures in the industry in the space of eight months. Equatorial Commercial Bank Ltd. renamed itself Spire Bank and plans to grow its market share to 1 percent by 2019 from 0.5 percent, Chief Executive Officer…

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Market Watch | Emerging Markets Extend Losses as Concern Over Brexit Resurfaces

Market Watch | Emerging Markets Extend Losses as Concern Over Brexit Resurfaces

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Emerging-market stocks fell for a second day and currencies headed for the longest streak of losses in three weeks as investors switched to haven assets on concern the Brexit contagion is spreading. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 1.4 percent to 820.19 at 12:08 p.m. in New York, paring its gains this year to 3.3 percent. A gauge of currencies slid for a third day after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said Tuesday the…

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African Private Equity: Reassess our Trades, To Buy, Sell or Hold?

African Private Equity: Reassess our Trades, To Buy, Sell or Hold?

NIGERIA, Capital Markets in Africa: In September 2012, we at White Lake wrote an article called “Patterns, Predictions and Profits: the Powerful Case for African Private Equity” – our macro investment thesis at that time for Africa. The title speaks for itself -investment professionals always have a view – and we were pounding the table in support of African PE, albeit with some risk caveats. Let’s assume at that time we “bought” African PE as…

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Mezzanine Financing: A Solution for the Mid-Market Funding Gap in Africa

Mezzanine Financing: A Solution for the Mid-Market Funding Gap in Africa

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Mezzanine financing in developed markets such as Europe and the United States is typically used to fill a gap in the capital structure, providing additional leverage for primarily private equity funds. In emerging markets such as Africa, mezzanine financing is a key tool in addressing the current lack of funding that is especially obvious in the mid-market, where small and medium sized companies are looking to raise between $5-…

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Infrastructure | AIIM announces successful sale of stakes in three toll road assets

Infrastructure | AIIM announces successful sale of stakes in three toll road assets

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) has announced the successful sale of investments in three privately-concessioned toll roads in Southern Africa. Acting as the manager of the South Africa Infrastructure Fund (SAIF), AIIM successfully concluded the transaction on 4 July 2016. This sale represents the largest private equity realisation for toll road infrastructure in Africa to date. SAIF was established in 1996, and in mid-2000 management of the…

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