ECP Private Equity - Emerging Capital Partners

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24-May-2007


WASHINGTON, D.C. – (May 24, 2007) – Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), an international private equity firm focused on investing across the African continent, today announced the final close of its EMP Africa Fund II PCC (Africa Fund II) with total commitments of $523 million.  The fund, which attracted a high level of investor interest, is the largest private equity fund ever raised for investments across the African continent.  It also marks the fifth fund managed by ECP, bringing the firm's total capital raised for African investments to more than $1 billion.

Africa Fund II will seek majority or minority positions in companies through equity, quasi-equity and convertible debt instruments, with a focus on telecommunications, natural resources, financial services, agribusiness, transportation and utility businesses.  The fund will invest in companies with operations based in countries throughout Africa, with a focus on larger markets such as Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya.

ECP is the first private equity group to raise over $1 billion for investment in companies across the African continent.  The ECP team has been investing in Africa since 2000, initially as part of EMP Global before spinning out in 2005. 

"ECP's established track record has shown that the perceived risk of investing in Africa is greater than the actual risk," said Thomas Gibian, chief executive officer of ECP.  "Within African markets, there are companies that are appropriate private equity destinations.  ECP holds these companies to the same governance and transparency standards as companies based in any other market.  These companies can provide above-market returns that are historically uncorrelated to the U.S. and other global economies."

The African continent is generally overlooked in terms of investment opportunities.  However, the past several years have seen positive shifts, such as government movement to open-market philosophies and improved macro economic fundamentals.  In addition, there is a high demand for capital in African markets, where the demand for investment far outweighs the supply.  These factors are enabling Africa to become a vibrant marketplace with a defined opportunity set for private equity investment.

"The ECP investment team has screened thousands of investment opportunities throughout Africa," Gibian said.  "We focus on sectors where Africa has a comparative advantage or where Africa has typically lagged developed markets.  ECP can then play a variety of roles from a pure financial investor to a co-developer prior to entering the business, providing anything from executive recruiting and financial advisory services, to active board representation and strategic guidance on exit opportunities.  This strategy has resulted in significant opportunities for growth and strong returns for our investors."

Over the past seven years, ECP managed funds have made more than 35 investments in 30 African countries.  Many of these companies have been successfully exited through sales to strategic and financial investors, listings on regional exchanges, or through pre-agreed structured exit mechanisms.  The ECP team operates from offices in Washington, D.C., Abidjan, Casablanca, Douala,
Johannesburg and Tunis. 

Africa Fund II received strong support from investors in ECP's previous funds, with the majority of strategic and financial investors from the AIG African Infrastructure Fund (Africa Fund I) committing to the new fund.  These institutions were joined by many new investors, which provided roughly half of the fund's capital.  Investors include pension funds, financial institutions, foundations, high-net-worth individuals and development finance institutions.
 
ECP has already made several investments through Africa Fund II, including Anvil Mining Limited (Democratic Republic of Congo), Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (Pan-African), Spencon International Limited (East Africa), Continental Reinsurance Plc (Pan-African), Notore Chemical Industries (Nigeria), Artumas Group Inc. (Tanzania and Mozambique) and Bank of Africa (Pan-African).  The fund follows four other ECP managed funds including Africa Fund I, the West Africa Growth Sicar, the Central Africa Growth Sicar and the Moroccan Infrastructure Fund.


ABOUT ECP
Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) is the first private equity firm to raise more than $1 billion to invest in companies across Africa.  The ECP team has a seven-year track record of investing in Africa through five successful funds.  The firm's investment strategy is focused on delivering consistently above-market returns to investors that are uncorrelated to the U.S. and other global economies.  For more information, please see www.ecpinvestments.com.


CONTACT
Jeannine Lewan, FD for ECP
212-850-5612
jeannine.lewan@fd.com