London-based Helios Investment Partners, which recently invested $130 million into Wananchi Group has raised a $1 billion Africa-focused private equity fund.
Established in 2004 by co-founding partners Tope Lawani and Babatunde Soyoye, Helios is one of the largest investment pan-African private equity investment firms and has aggregated more than $2.7 billion in capital commitments to deals across Africa.
With experience from leading firms such as TPG Capital, Bain Capital, Warburg Pincus, HgCapital, The Carlyle Group, among others, Helios Investment Partners managed the $110 million Modern Africa Fund and has significant experience in private equity investing across a broad range of industries and investment types – leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, joint ventures, seed-stage venture capital, restructurings, and strategic public equity investments.
Helios’s $1.1 billion raise is the third fund it has raised since its 2007 launch. In 2011, it raised $908 million and $630 million in July last year.
