Hey,
I'm currently doing an internship for a private equity fund in South Africa and we're raising a new fund. I've been asked to look at a list of comparable PE firms and see what differentiates us, as the results of my research is to be presented in some sort of graphic in a pitch we're doing this Friday.
So far, since we don't have access to CapIQ or anything, I have been looking at the websites of the firms in order to get general info i.e. fund size, investment size, geographic focus etc.
This is a monumental job, and perhaps unnecessary. My fund focuses on companies that are in some way technology focused. But our little twist is that this can be in any sector, so we're a generalist fund investing in e.g. agriculture, but only if the company is innovative technology wise in the agri sector.
Overall I'm a bit at a loss as to how to do this most efficiently, and how to later show in a graphic (a map preferably or something) how we are different and better than other funds that invest in the same African countries.
I hope you guys can offer me some advice, and I really appreciate your time.
Working on something 'similar' too, subscribed.
First off, I really admire your decision to work in South Africa because the continent is badly in need for private equity. Having said that, and forgive me for asking, but are you sure that the company you work is really legit?
Lol, yes it's legit. Why are you asking?
As long as you're sure, it's all good.
As you know, even a basic comp analysis is fairly difficult to do without Bloomberg or Cap.IQ. You'd still be able to pull up some 10-Ks from EDGAR along with market reports from Value Line or Moody's. Unfortunately, you might be forced to restrict your comps to companies in or near South Africa. I don't pretend that I know anything about their accounting/disclosure regulations, but I would talk to your manager to see if he can help you get your hands on the necessary reports.
In the meantime, you could perform a macro-analysis on South Africa and the industry that you're targeting. If all fails, choose a few prospective comps anyways and craft some bullsh!t explanations using Porter's Five Forces Model, SWOT or a top-down analysis.
I interned at a PE firm a few years ago that tasked me to pitch them on making a first draft proposal for a $50m West Africa fund. I had CapIQ which really helped but a lot was just searching. I've been in the same boat as you though so don't stress tons - it's doable, just not easy. If you want, PM some criteria and I'll run a quick CapIq screen for you. Another tip - try to find the big LP's in Africa. One group is CDC (http://www.cdcgroup.com/) - they've invested in $700M in developing countries, much of that in Africa, and most of the as an LP. You can go through these (and other) guys annual reports and find out which funds they invest in, then preform comps on those funds investment criteria. No tip on the graphic though. Just get creative.
I've thrown in the funds I profiled back in 09' for that pitch. Don't know if these will help but here you go.
Management Firm | Capital Under Management | Fund Focus Nations | Investment Size AfricInvest Limited 244.1 M (2 funds) Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia 1M – 5M
Helios investment Partners 310M (2 Funds) Nigeria, Cape Verde, Kenya 15M – 200M
Actis Capital, LLP 840M (5 funds) Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Dem. Rep. of Congo, Tanzania | 5M – 100M
Fidelity Capital Partners Limited 31.7M (2 funds) Ghana, Interests in Liberia and Sierra Leone 0.75M – 2.25M
GroFin Managers 250.6M (6 Funds) Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Oman 50K – 1M
Travant Capital Partners 107M (1 Fund) Cameroon, Ivory Cost, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Angola, Dem. Rep. of Congo 25M – 35M
Aureos Capital Limited 361M (3 Funds) Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Cost, Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Other 2M – 10M
Emerging Capital Partners 930M (2 Funds) Ivory Cost, Togo, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria 10M – 50M
Kindom Zephyr Africa management 325M (1 Fund) Senegal, Mauritania, Ivory Cost, Ghana, Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa Unkown
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