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Press Release

Thursday, April 1, 2010

OPIC Board Approves $100 Million for African Investment Fund

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) approved $100 million to support the establishment of a private equity investment fund designed to invest in growing companies and buyouts in Africa.

Helios Investors II, L.P. will use a two-pronged investment strategy, making equity investments in nascent businesses with high growth potential; and buyouts of large, established companies, most likely divisions of Western multinational corporations. The fund will target sectors that are central to the function of African economies, and therefore geared to domestic economic growth rather than broader global factors. It has a target capitalization of $600 million.

Sectors targeted for the fund’s investments include financial services, telecommunications, power and utilities, transport and logistics, real estate, agribusiness, mining, oil & gas, and consumer products. The fund’s investments will focus on Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Angola, and South Africa, as well as Cote D’Ivoire, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The fund’s strategy is similar to that of its predecessor, Helios Investors L.P., to which OPIC provided a $50 million facility in 2006. The first fund closed in 2006 with $305 million in capital investments.

OPIC selected as fund manager Helios Investment Partners LLP, which is headquartered in London.
 


OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution.  It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy.  Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad.  OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.

 

Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. To date, OPIC has supported nearly $200 billion of investment in over 4,000 projects, generated $74 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 275,000 American jobs.