Congratulations to the winners of the 2015 Private Equity Africa Awards! These celebrate the achievements of Africa’s top General Partners (GPs) and advisors in 2014. The awards are in their 4th year and were handed out at a gala dinner at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on 29 April.
Outstanding leadership award: Runa Alam, Chief Executive Officer, Development Partners International
This accolade is awarded based on voting by leading industry investors.
House of the year
Sub-Saharan House of the Year: Carlyle Africa
Award collected by Marlon Chigwende, Managing Director and head of Africa team at Carlyle.
Special recognition: General Partners
North Africa Investor: Abraaj
Award collected by Lloyd West, Director at Abraaj.
Fundraiser of the Year: Carlyle
Award collected by Marlon Chigwende, Managing Director and head of the Africa team at Carlyle.
Outstanding First-Time GP: Amethis Finance
Award collected by Luc Rigouzzo, Managing Director at Amethis.
Outstanding South Africa Exits: Capitalworks
Award collected by Chad Smart, Partner at Capitalworks.
Frontier Investor: XSML
Award collected by Marcel Posthuma, Managing Partner at XSML.
Exit of the year:
Mansard Insurance by Development Partners International & AfricInvest
Award collected by Idris Mohammed, Partner at Development Partners International, and Hakim Khelifa, Senior Partner and Co-Head of Sub-Saharan Africa at AfricInvest.
Deal of the year
Large-cap deal of the year: Helios Towers Africa by Helios
Award collected by Henry Obi, Partner at Helios.
Mid-cap deal of the year: J&J Africa by Carlyle
Award collected by Marlon Chigwende, Managing Director and head of the Africa team at Carlyle.
Small-cap deal of the year: Moablaou by Databank
Award collected by Brian Frimpong, Managing Partner at Databank.
Portfolio company of the year
Development impact: Emerging Capital Partners & Investec Asset Management for IHS
Award collected by Hurley Doddy co-CEO at ECP, and Mark Jennings, Investment Principal at Investec Asset Management.
Innovation: Helios for Interswitch
Award collected by Pierre Heinrichs, Principal at Helios.
Improvement & social impact: Adenia Partners for Newpack
Award collected by Antoine Delaporte Managing Director at Adenia Partners.
Special recognition: deals & exits
The event also recognized investors and advisors that had delivered exceptional transactions during 2014 that do not fall into the main award categories.
Landmark deal: IHS by Emerging Capital Partners
Award collected by Hurley Doddy, co-CEO at Emerging Capital Partners.
Small-cap exit: African Frontier Capital for Electro-MaxxUganda
Award collected by Roland Tatnall, Managing Partner at African Frontier Capital Partners.
Debt deal: TLG Capital for GetBucks
Award collected by Dominic Clive, Principal at TLG Capital.
Frontier deal – Côte d’Ivoire: Cauris Management for Cipharm
Award collected by Jean-Marc Savi de Tové, Partner at Cauris.
Advisors of the year
Overall legal advisor: Clifford Chance
Award collected by Spencer Baylin, Partner at Clifford Chance.
Funds legal advisor: Webber Wentzel
Award collected by Markjan van Schaardenburgh, Partner at Webber Wentzel.
Deals legal advisor: Clifford Chance
Award collected by Spencer Baylin, Partner at Clifford Chance.
Fund administration: Trident Fund Services
Award collected by Karine Seguin, Business Development Director at Trident, and Rajan Rosick, Head of New Business at Trident.
Corporate finance advisor: Intercontinental Trust
Award collected by Noelle McKean, Senior Vice President at Intercontinental Trust.
Single-deal advisor:: Dentons for IHS
Award collected by Nicholas Plant, Partner and Head of Private Equity, UK and Africa, at Dentons.
The final award winners were selected by an independent panel of judges:
• Alex Wolf, Vice President, HarbourVest Partners
• Arjette van den Berg, Independent Private Equity Advisor
• Arnaud de Cremiers, Partner, Adam Street Partners
• Charles Rose, Chairman, Hainsford
• Dushy Sivanithy, Principal, Pantheon Ventures
• Hervé Schricke, Chairman, Xange/AFIC Africa
• Jean-Luc Koffi Vovor, Founder, Kusuntu
• Matthew Craig-Greene, Founder, Craig-Greene & Co
• Michelle Essomé, Chief Executive Officer, AVCA
• Rory Ord, Head of RisCura Fundamentals, RisCura
• Vivina Berla, Senior Partner, Sarona Asset Management
Advisors
Mark Artivor, Independent Private Equity Advisor
Thomas Ferede, Independent Private Equity Advisor
