Dear SAVCA Members and Friends,

News from SAVCA: The year in review | 2015 SAVCA Industry Conference

Looking forward to 2015

It’s been an active and productive year for SAVCA, and the Southern African private equity and venture capital industry. In recent weeks members deal and exit announcement have been coming with increasing frequency, while we know that many firms are on the fundraising trail and preparing for future activity. These are exciting times and we really enjoy staying up to date with members’ activities.

It has also been a fruitful year for SAVCA, with a full training and events calendar, a number of research projects undertaken and continuous engagement with our members and stakeholders. From a membership perspective our base continued to grow in 2014 and we welcomed six new full members and eighteen associate members, bringing our total membership to 138. It is gratifying to see some of our newest members drawn from the broader region as we expand our reach outside of South Africa.

Our 2014 conference was a high point of the year and we hope to build on this success at SAVCA’s 2015 Private Equity in Southern Africa conference set for 13 February 2015, at Spier, Stellenbosch. For more information about the conference please visit www.savca2015.co.za. All members, whether attending the conference or not, are invited to attend the members’ networking reception on the eve of the conference, hosted by Phatisa and King & Wood Mallesons, starting at 5pm on Thursday 12 February 2015. We advise you to make use of the limited room bookings we have secured at Spier. Visit www.savca2015.co.za to read more about accommodation options and to complete the registration form for the conference. And, to get you into the mood, view the conference advert being aired on CNBC Africa.

The team at the SAVCA wishes you and your family a restful and safe holiday season. The SAVCA office will close on 19 December 2014 and will reopen on 6 January 2015. We will kick-start 2015 with the SAVCA Members-Only Year-Opening Reception, hosted with EY in Sandton on 29 January.

We look forward to interacting with you in 2015.

Regards

Erika van der Merwe
CEO: SAVCA

Research

VIDEO: SA’s Policy, Growth and Deal-Making Environment

Earlier this year SAVCA hosted a panel discussion, moderated by independent economist Trudi Makhaya, which examined South Africa’s policy, growth and deal-making context. The guests were Nick Binedell (GIBS), Colin Coleman (Goldman Sachs), Garth Towell (formerly of Kimberly Clark SA), Grant Pattison (formerly of Massmart), Mzi Mjekevu (Barclays) and Ryan Wood-Collier (AfrAsia Bank).

SAVCA Feature: SAVCA’s multimedia highlights

SAVCA continues to stretch its multimedia muscles.

We prepared a short video to show the highlights of the SAVCA-DBSA Economic Impact Study, launched in April this year.

In the second half of 2014 we published a video series in partnership with EY showcasing the exit experiences of Southern African private equity fund managers.

Videos in the SAVCA-EY Excellence in Exits series which have been released so far:

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Interview with Clive Howell from Nedbank Capital

Part 3: Interview with Richard Flett from Horizon Equity

Also released was a collage of SAVCA members’ views on private equity deal-making prospects, recorded at the launch of the SAVCA-KPMG Private Equity Industry Survey:

Successful fundraising has positioned the Southern African private equity industry for deal-making

We recorded views of attendees at the SAVCA conference in February this year, we spoke to Clem Sunter, our keynote speaker, about the pursuit of entrepreneurship, and we had fun with attendees at the conference networking reception.

Look out for more videos in 2015!

SAVCA Events

SAVCA Year-Opening Reception – Members Only
Date:    29 January 2014
Time:    5:00 pm onwards
Venue:  EY in Sandton, Johannesburg
RSVP:   events@savca.co.za or +21 11 268 0041

SAVCA Annual Conference: LP Master-Class
This event is open exclusively to institutional investors into private equity funds, including qualifying pension funds, family offices, sovereign wealth funds and development finance institutions
Date:       12 February 2015
Time:      12:00pm-5:00pm
Venue:    Spier, Stellenbosch
RSVP:     The conference organiser, Karin Diederichs, on karin@soafrica.com or +27 (0)83 270 9219

Click here for further information

SAVCA Annual Conference: Members’ Reception
This event is open to attendees at the SAVCA conference on 12-13 February, as well as to SAVCA members
Date:        12 February 2015
Time:       5:00pm-7.30pm
Venue:     Spier, Stellenbosch
RSVP:      The conference organiser, Karin Diederichs, on karin@soafrica.com or +27 (0)83 270 9219

Click here for further information

SAVCA Annual Conference
Join more than 300 private equity professionals, institutional investors and advisors at the premier event for private equity in Southern Africa. Qualifying institutional investors into private equity funds attend at no cost. (Fund of funds, private equity fund managers, advisors and others pay to attend; SAVCA members receive a discount).
Date:       13 February 2015
Time:       All-day conference
Venue:     Spier, Stellenbosch
RSVP:     Booking is essential: The conference organiser, Karin Diederichs, on karin@soafrica.com or +27-83-2709219

Click here for further information or visit the conference website on www.savca2015.co.za.

SAVCA GIBS Masterclass on Infrastructure Investing in Africa
Date:    26 March 2015
Venue:GIBS campus, 26 Melville Road, Illovo, Sandton

Click here for further information.

Keep up to date with all our events and courses by visiting the SAVCA online calendar.

SAVCA in the news

Overview: A viable asset option I Financial Mail Special Report on Private Equity
With growing interest from international investors, the sector performs impressively achieving 11.8% compound growth over the past 14 years. Investor sentiment will play a role in how much capital is available for new investments. “While overall economic conditions influence returns from private equity, the model of careful asset selection and hands-on management is one of the reasons private equity outperforms listed equity over time,” says Erika van der Merwe, CEO of SAVCA.

SAVCA appoints new chairman I InvestSA SAVCA
The board of directors of the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dave Stadler as its new chairman.

SAVCA members in the news

African infrastructure a major pull I Financial Mail Special Report on Private Equity
A key differentiator for private equity funds is that investors are prepared to wait for their money. This makes private equity the preferred equity financing option for illiquid infrastructure projects. Erika van der Merwe, CEO of SAVCA comments “It is patient capital that understands the risks associated with long-life projects.”

Economic empowerment an important deal driver I Financial Mail Special Report on Private Equity
The 2014 KPMG and SAVCA survey confirms a significant increase in the overall value, number of deals and average deal size of BEE transactions in the 2013 calendar.

DPI to exit its investment in Mansard I Press release
DPI is pleased to announce that its fund along with other investors have entered into an agreement to sell Assur Africa Holding to the AXA Group for a total consideration of approximately €198 million. AAH holds a 77% stake in Mansard a leading and well-established insurance company in Nigeria.

Kenya: PE fund to build entry-level homes I Allafrica.com
Pan African Housing Fund, a private equity fund managed by South African based Phatisa, has announced it will build a 80-unit apartment block in Westlands, Nairobi.

Nedbank Group to integrate its capital and corporate businesses I Venture
Nedbank Group, South Africa’s fourth biggest bank, on Wednesday said its units, Nedbank Capital and Nedbank Corporate, will be integrated into a single client-facing, wholesale business cluster.

Old Mutual seeks capital for $1 billion Africa expansion plan I AFK Insider
The Old Mutual Investment Group has embarked on a capital-raising programme to increase its investment in sustainable projects on the continent by a further $1 billion over the next two years.

Actis invests in Tunisian private HE group I Education Investor
Actis has made a “significant” investment in Université Centrale Group, a provider of private higher education in Tunisia. Actis has invested over $400 million in emerging market education in recent years.

Industry news and updates

South Africa: Stellenbosch, a city’s growing ecosystem I The Africa Report
With its world-class university and close proximity to Cape Town, Stellenbosch is well-placed to become South Africa’s Silicon Valley.

Private equity in Africa: the promise and the challenge I Institutional Investor
Established African firms and new entrants, small and large, are raising a substantial amount of capital for private investments in Africa. Now global private equity players are looking to allocate to Africa.

Will 2015 be the Year of the Co-Investment? I WSJ
Swiss fund-of-funds manager Adveq is bullish on the future of the co-investment sector, with Managing Director Lee Gardella predicting that 20% of the capital committed by limited partners to private equity in 2015 would be co-investments.

The absolutely perfect resume for private equity I eFinancial Careers
Looking for a job in private equity? “A CV will get you an interview, it won’t get you a job,” says Gail McManus, managing director of Private Equity Recruitment. “It needs to be brief, it needs to be data-focused, but it needs to contain all the information to allow you to stand out from the competition.”

Ultra wealthy have twice as much private equity than public stocks I The Next Big Future
Almost US$13 trillion of the world’s UHNW (ultra-high new worth, those with over $30 million) wealth is held in private company holdings, nearly twice the amount held in public company stakes.

African Development Bank grants Kenya US$133 million I ESI-Africa
The Last Mile Connectivity Project in Kenya has been granted US$133 million by the African Development Bank to achieve its objective of expanding electricity access to remote communities in the region.

Job Opportunities

Contact info@savca.co.za to advertise an opening at your firm on our online jobs portal.

Advertising with SAVCA

SAVCA welcomes the opportunity to work with members and stakeholders in promoting the Southern African private equity and venture capital industry. The organisation seeks creative ways of doing so, including through the marketing member firms’ activities. Should you wish to find out more about various marketing and advertising opportunities with SAVCA, contact the office on info@savca.co.za. Please also drop us a line if you would like to advertise an opening at your firm on our online jobs portal.