YEELEN FINANCIAL FUND RAISES € 30 MILLIONS
Yeelen Capital initiated by Cauris Management, has achieved subscriptions in excess of 30 millions Euros for Yeelen Financial Fund L.P., its private equity fund dedicated to the financial sector, at the end of an initial closing held today.
Yeelen Financial Fund L.P.
Yeelen Financial Fund L.P. (Fund), which has been sponsored by the West African Development Bank (BOAD), aims to support the growth and development of banking, insurance, microfinance, financial technology and other type of financial services institutions within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). The fund will invest between 2 and 15 million Euros in equity and quasi-equity per company. The Fund’s target size is 150 million Euros (100 billion CFA francs) by the end of 2018, with a first closing of 75 million Euros (50 billion CFA francs) at the end of 2017. With this initial closing, the Fund plans to initiate immediately its investment activities.
The current cumulative subscriptions of 30 million Euros were achieved exclusively from a wide group of African regional institutions, including on the one hand historical investors such as BOAD, Atlantic Group and SGI Togo, and on the other hand new investors such as the government pension fund of Cote d’Ivoire as well as insurance companies and family offices like SONAVIE Mali and the Sanchez family in Senegal.
Cauris Management has made available to Yeelen Capital a dedicated team led by Benjamin Kouakou, who has over 25 years of experience in the African financial sector including positions at Citibank (Regional Director of Corporate Finance for West & Central Africa), Orabank Chad (Chief Executive Officer) and Diamond Bank (Regional Director for Francophone Africa). Cauris Management will also provide Yeelen Capital with ESG, reporting and back-office support services.
Mr. Christian Adovelande, President of the BOAD, explained that the establishment of this Fund “will respond to the needs of modernization and restructuring of the WAEMU financial sector, which is facing issues and challenges of a growing demand for specialised financial services and an improvement of the competitiveness of the players in the banking and financial sector while respecting the regulatory constraints “.
For Paul Derreumaux, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Yeelen Capital: “The WAEMU region needs significant capital to meet the requirements of its economic growth and the strong regulatory development in the banking and insurance sectors. This creates attractive opportunities for funds such as Yeelen which combines the experience of a strong team and deep local roots”.
Noël Yawo Eklo, Chief Executive Officer of Cauris Management, said: “Developping a sectorial financial fund such as Yeelen is a natural evolution of Cauris Management, leveraging on its experience of generalist fund manager, on its expertise and its success in supporting and financing SMEs and financial activities in Francophone West Africa”.
About Yeelen Capital and Cauris Management
Yeelen Capital is a consortium composed of Cauris Management, Paul Derreumaux (founder of the Bank of Africa Group), Amadou Raimi (formerly Chairman of Deloitte France and Vice-Chairman of Deloitte worldwide) and Finactu (an African insurance consulting firm). This consortium, majority-owned by Cauris Management, won the international bidding process launched by BOAD to establish and manage a fund dedicated to the financial sector in the WAEMU region.
Cauris Management is the first private equity fund management company in French-speaking West Africa. Created in 1995 and active in the SME segment, the Cauris Management team has completed 47 investments and 40 disposals, including 11 investments in the financial sector, with a return above 3 times the amounts invested in banking sector. Cauris Management’s portfolio also includes investments in sectors as diverse as agribusiness, hotels, telecoms, distribution and energy. Cauris Management operates from 2 offices, Lomé and Abidjan.