JEDDAH: Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) chaired by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has announced that Kingdom Zephyr Africa Management II (KZAM) has successfully raised $325 million for the second Kingdom Zephyr fund (PAIP II) after the astounding success of the first Kingdom Zephyr fund (PAIP I) with an IRR of 92 percent. PAIP II is managed according to the same mandate governing the earlier fund PAIP I which was launched in 2003 and was seeded by KHC with $35 million and raised a total of $122.5 million of funds from various international institutions.
PAIP II is targeting up to $500 million in capital commitments of which KHC is planning to inject 50 percent of the total commitments or $250 million, and will make growth capital investments in profitable, growing businesses throughout Africa that operate or plan to operate in more than one African country.
Capital commitments to PAIP II have been provided by a broad range of developmental, institutional and private investors from around the world including the Washington-based International Finance Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
Prince Alwaleed said: “Africa is now an integral part of our investment strategy particularly after the overwhelming success we have achieved in our first initiative.”
Ahmed Reda Halawani, executive director for Private Equity, commented: “The African investment climate remains to be very fertile and promising, and the risk reward profile is improving steadily. We will strive to solidify our pioneer position and to become the largest private equity investor in the continent.” Kingdom Zephyr manages the investments of PAIP II and PAIP I from offices in Accra in Ghana, Johannesburg, London and New York. “The successful first close of PAIP II highlights the continuing appetite for investment opportunities across Africa” noted J. Kofi Bucknor, managing partner of Kingdom Zephyr.