British International Investment

Vantage Mezzanine IV Southern African Sub-Fund

South AfricaSouthern AfricaAfricaFinancial services

Vantage Mezzanine IV Southern African Sub-Fund is managed by Vantage Capital, an experienced mezzanine platform in Africa. The fund offers growth capital in the form of private debt financing to mid-market companies. In doing so, it helps tackle a significant funding gap in markets where the supply of credit from banks is limited.

This investment was made when British International Investment was named CDC Group.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

Our investment will supplement capital supply to mid-cap businesses providing more flexible funding (better terms, longer tenure), enabling their growth, expansion and job creation.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact

Sustaining and creating economic opportunities from employment creation

How?

How?

Direct: Providing c.18-25 companies with mezzanine capital supplementing scarcity of this type of funding in the mid-market segment. Capital is expected to fund growth and expansion.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Employees

Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Mauritius

Expected to be variable – low to high skilled labour

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

If the fund performed in line with median job creation for our Africa private equity funds, we could expect underlying companies to create up to 2,700 jobs over the lifetime of the fund.

Direct: Variable depending on the sector and the characteristics of the stakeholder.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality

Financial additionality: We have played a key role in fundraising traction. Value additionality: We have played a key role in upskilling environmental, social, governance and business integrity systems and processes, and increasing development impact awareness/implementation

Grid score

Grid Score

To help us direct our investments, we previously used a tool called the Development Impact Grid. It scored investments out of four, based on two factors: the difficulty of investing in a country and the propensity of the sector to generate employment. This tool was used for investments until the end of 2021. Since 2022 it has been replaced by the Impact Score.

1.8-2.9

Risk

External Risk

Relates to the probability that regardless of the Fund’s financial performance, commercial investors will remain averse to investing in the African private credit market due to high perceived market risk or macro-economic dynamics including fallout from COVID-19. No mitigation, the market impact relies on repeated successes from multiple players. This risk is inherent in supporting financial markets and must be tolerated.

Alignment Risk

Relates to The probability that they support businesses with many alternate funding options or where they have low financial additionality. Mitigation: We take comfort both from both Vantage’s track record and pipeline which are majority growth transactions. This will be a key area for our impact monitoring of the fund.

Execution Risk

Relates to the probability of the Fund reaching a viable size and delivering investee growth and returns that global commercial investors will find sufficient to consider investing in subsequent funds and, overall, in the African private credit market. Poor or sub-scale execution affects both the expected market and direct impact. This risk is correlated to commercial risks. Mitigation: To the degree possible in that we are selecting a best-in-class Manager with a track record of delivering strong top-line returns. We will monitor this through the standard monitoring process.

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to [email protected] or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at [email protected]

  • Key facts

    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.

    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.

    :
    D6790
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).

    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.

    :
    Africa
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Financial services

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.

    Investment type :
    Fund
    Start date :
    July 2021
    Amount :
    $9m
    Currency of investment :
    ZAR
    Fund Manager:
    Vantage Capital
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.

    :
    South Africa

Investments made by this fund into companies:

For further information about these companies, visit https://www.vantagecapital.co.za/

Investment name Country Region Sector Start date Status
Procera Group (Pty) Ltd South Africa Southern Africa Financial services March 2024 Active
Seaton Estates Investment Southern Africa Africa Financial services December 2021 Active

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