Emerging Capital Partners

Infobox_Company
company_name = Emerging Capital Partners
foundation = 2000
type = Private
location = flagicon|USA Washington D.C.
industry = Private Equity
products = Private equity funds, Growth capital
homepage = [http://www.ecpinvestments.com/ www.ecpinvestments.com]
homepage = 20+ (2008)

Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) is a Washington, D.C. based private equity firm with an investment interest focused on the African continent. Since it's founding in 2000, ECP has raised more than $1.2 billion for investment in companies across Africa. [ [http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=54888 RIGZONE - Emerging Capital Partners Invests $35M in West African Energy Company] ] [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS100203+07-Jan-2008+PRN20080107 Emerging Capital Partners Invests US $35 Million in West African Energy Company | Reuters] ]

The firm is based in Washington, D.C. with offices in Johannesburg, South Africa, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Tunisia and Lagos, Nigeria and has more than 20 investment professionals.

The group has an eight-year track-record of investing in Africa through six private equity funds. In total, ECP has made 45 investments in more than 30 countries on the continent. The firm maintains that its goal is to maximize shareholder value, while insisting on the standards of governance and transparency in all of its investments.

Funds

AIG African Fund Infrastructure Fund L.L.C. ("Africa Fund I")
The fund was established in March 2000 to invest in infrastructure and related industries in Africa. It raised $407 million in commitments from investors with a ten-year term. During its commitment period, Africa Fund I invested primarily through equity, quasi-equity and convertible debt instruments in numerous sectors throughout the Continent of Africa including: Telecoms, Natural Resources, Agro-Industry, Transportation, Power and Water among others. Africa Fund I's sponsors are the American International Group (AIG) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The Advisory Board has consisted of notable world leaders such as His Excellency Nelson Mandela, who served as Chairman, as well as former ANC General Secretary Cyril Ramaphosa and AIG Vice Chairman Ambassador Frank Wisner who both served as Vice Chairmen. The Fund's investments typically range in size from US$10 million to US$50 million, in projects or companies having total valuations of US $25 million to over US$500 million. Africa Fund I thus takes significant minority positions, generally consisting of 10% to 50% of the company's equity.

Investments:

ECP Africa Fund II PCC ("Africa Fund II")
The fund was established in December 2005, and currently has $523 million in commitments from investors. [ [http://www.americanventuremagazine.com/news.php?newsid=3950 Emerging Capital Partners Invests US $35 Million in West African Energy Company - 2008-01-07 09:20:01 | Venture Capital News] ] It targets numerous sectors throughout the African continent including: Telecoms, Natural Resources, Financial Services, Power and Water, Agribusiness and Transportation among others. Typical investments range in size from $15 million to $50 million with a maximum of 20% of the Fund's total size available per transaction. Target companies are generally EBITDA positive and have total valuations in the range of $40 million to over $500 million.

Investments: [ [http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080303/nym027a.html?.v=2 Emerging Capital Partners Invests U.S. $20 Million in Cellcom, African Mobile Telecommunications Company: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance] ]

Notable Investments

Bacim Bank
In April 2008, ECP invested $15.9 million to acquire a controlling interest in Bacim Bank, the seventh largest banking group in Mauritania. The investment in Bacim was made through the U.S. $150 million ECP MENA Growth Fund. ECP currently holds stakes in four other African financial services companies, including Continental Reinsurance Plc, Nigeria's largest reinsurance company; African Financial Holdings, a prominent banking group with eight subsidiaries across Africa operating under the Bank of Africa brand name; and Intercontinental Bank Plc, the second largest banking group in Nigeria.

Central African Gold
[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4PRN/is_2008_Jan_31/ai_n24242449] In January 2008, ECP invested $15.2 million Central African Gold, a gold producing firm. Since March 2006, the company has increased its total gold resources to approximately 5.6 million ounces within their highly prospective areas of operation through both acquisition and exploration activity. ECP's investment, which makes it the largest single shareholder, was made as a cornerstone investor in a private placement of shares.

Cellcom
In December 2007, ECP announced a $20 million investment in Cellcom, a West African telecommunications company. The funds will be used to expand Cellcom's network and operations in Liberia and launch service in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Mobile telecom subscriber growth in Africa in 2006 was 45 percent, making the continent the world's fastest growing market for mobile telecommunications. Wireless Intelligence forecasts predict additional growth of 50 percent by 2010. West Africa has led the African continent in mobile telecom growth, recording 75 percent subscription growth in 2006 alone. [ [http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-03-2008/0004766162&EDATE= Emerging Capital Partners Invests U.S. $20 Million in Cellcom, African Mobile Telecommunications Company] ]

Compagnie Minière de Touissit (CMT)

In November 2007, ECP made a $53 million investment in CMT, through a special purpose vehicle called OSEAD Maroc Mining (OMM). CMT is the oldest lead producer and exporter in Morroco. While Africa is home to approximately 30 percent of the planet's mineral reserves, the continent still produces less than seven percent of the world's major metals. [http://www.ecpinvestments.com/news/1514.xml EMERGING CAPITAL PARTNERS JOINTLY ACQUIRES LEADING MOROCCAN MINING COMPANY WITH TRUFFLE CAPITAL] ] This investment in CMT is ECP's third investment in the mining sector, following positions in Anvil Mining (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Mineral Deposits Limited (Senegal).

Celtel

In May 2000, ECP committed to investing in Celtel International, a pan-African mobile GSM telecommunications provider founded in 1998 to capitalize on deregulation and privatization in the African telecommunications sector. The Company acquired, developed and operated GSM telephone networks. At the time of ECP's exit in March 2005, the Company had almost 4 million subscribers in 13 countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, DRC, Gabon, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Kenya.

References

External links

* [http://www.ecpinvestments.com Emerging Capital Partners] (company website)