Private Equity

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A rumoured IPO of the world’s biggest crypto-miner might end up as a play on advanced AI chips.  The 1980s cyberpunk novels that predicted today’s internet failed to conceive of anything as outlandish or contradictory as Bitcoin: A digital currency that’s spent nowhere, a commodity that’s used for nothing, and a libertarian dream that’s effectively run by elites. Now, after its 66-percent price drop from December highs, comes yet another fantastical…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kosmos Energy (NYSE/LSE: KOS) announced today that the company has entered into an agreement to acquire Deep Gulf Energy (“DGE”)1, a leading deepwater company operating in the Gulf of Mexico, from First Reserve and other shareholders for a total consideration of $1.225 billion, subject to certain adjustments. By acquiring DGE, Kosmos adds to its deepwater Atlantic Margin portfolio an established business with attractive assets and a strong record of growing…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – EFG-Hermes Holding SAE bought Nigerian brokerage and research house Primera Africa Securities Ltd. as the investment bank seeks to expand in frontier markets across Africa and Asia. The acquisition marks Cairo-based EFG Hermes’s second foray into sub-Saharan Africa after receiving a Kenyan stockbroking license in July 2017, extending its reach to 12 countries including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The firm plans to use the Lagos-based operation as a hub to…

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise said it’s in talks to back a start-up carrier in Nigeria in a move that would swell a network of alliances and equity holdings that’s extended the company’s reach across the continent. Tewolde GebreMariam, Ethiopian’s chief executive officer, plans to hold talks with a Nigerian government minister about the proposal later Tuesday at the Farnborough air show in southern England, he said in an interview in London….

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Orange SA is partnering Ivory Coast’s Groupe NSIA to start banking operations in West Africa as the telecommunications group accelerates an expansion into financial services, according to three people familiar with the matter. The venture plans to use the assets in Ivory Coast and Senegal that NSIAacquired from Nigeria’s Diamond Bank Plc in November, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. The partnership will…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s main manufacturing body said it will oppose plans for an African free trade area until the government has done more studies on its impact. “When they open our borders for all manner of products to come into this country, most of our industries will be out of business,” Frank Jacobs, president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, told reporters in Lagos, the commercial capital, on Tuesday. “We will continue…