| Private Equity |    1780 VIEWS  |
| Private Equity | |
| 1780 VIEWS | |
 |
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 / 10:47 AM / FBNQuest Research / Header
Image Credit: Mergers & Inquisitions
We listened with great interest to four prominent private equity players
in Africa in a discussion of prospects during and after COVID-19. The event
took place in early November, and so was before the announcement by Pfizer and
Moderna on their vaccines to tackle COVID-19. The panel discussion was part of
the Africa Debate, an annual event put together by an established London-based
business association.
Private equity houses are generally optimistic and did not disappoint in
the discussion. They had to contend with the great returns available in China
and foreign exchange issues in several African markets before COVID-19 struck,
yet were able to highlight many positives. One investor who follows the script
of the emerging middle class noted that 70 per cent of their companies qualify
as essential businesses and have therefore remained open.
Another said that their investments in both telecoms and financial
services had performed well with COVID-19 whereas the record for consumer goods
had been mixed. His experience in Africa was that the crisis has helped large
companies more than small operations, mirroring trends in advanced economies. A
third mentioned a successful investment in a remittance business, driven by a
shift from sending cash across borders (now often closed) in taxis to digital
transactions. There is the general point, made in the context of infrastructure
plays, that the global slowdown has made valuations more attractive.
Without travel, investors have been unable to send specialist outside contractors
to factories for fire-fighting purposes. Whenever possible, they have sorted
the problems out on Zoom. COVID-19 has accelerated programmes to deepen local
expertise on the ground, while traditional due diligence has become highly
challenging without travel. At the other end of the transaction, an exit via
Zoom requires good knowledge of the buyers. Nonetheless one investor has
concluded two transactions in the past month, one of which is in the fintech
space.
In the Q&A session investors were asked about their target Internal
Rate of Return (IRR). The first to answer came up with between 15% and 20% net,
and the three others were happy to nod their heads in agreement. Another
question covered the integration of ESG considerations into investment decisions.
One investor had already said that all their decision-taking incorporated the
impact on the climate. He argued that the valuation would suffer on a future
exit from a climate-unfriendly holding.
Expectedly, working practices have also had to change. One company has
worked hard to keep up morale as its employees work from home rather than
network in their office. Its responses have included organizing a party on Zoom
to celebrate the appointment of three new partners. Some of the time saved from
travelling has also been used to bring employees up to speed on the world of
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG).
Overall, the momentum has slowed for the industry in Africa in terms of
new deals, exits and fund-raising because of COVID-19. It was clear from the
discussion, however, that participants were confident about the future
post-COVID, which point may well have been brought closer by the news on
vaccine trials we have since had from Pfizer and Moderna in the US.
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