Africa-focused private investment firm, Helios Investment Partners has announced that it has secured an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-linked capital call facility for Helios Investors IV, with Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Chartered Bank as arrangers and sustainability coordinators.
According to Helios, this facility is the first of its kind in Africa which demonstrates the company’s commitment to building profitable, value-creating, and socially responsible businesses in Africa.
Details of the agreement seen by BusinessDay showed the interest rate of the Helios IV capital call facility set by lenders Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Chartered Bank is pegged to ESG performance targets. Individual ESG ratings of the Fund’s portfolio companies will be determined by an independent rating agency.
“The imperative to meet high ESG standards is integrated into everything Helios does. This facility allows us to target and track continuous improvement in ESG ratings for our portfolio companies in a tangible way. We believe that companies with strong ESG standards and performance will generate superior financial returns and we are excited by the opportunity this facility will bring to drive growth with impact,” Paul Cunningham, Chief financial officer of Helios said.
Helios noted that it intends to continue its longstanding practice of working closely with its portfolio companies to improve their ESG performance and capabilities on an ongoing basis, both from a risk management as well as a value creation perspective.
Jerrod Moodley, of Sustainable Finance and ESG Advisory at Rand Merchant Bank said, “We are proud to partner with Helios, as a leading Africa-focused private investment firm, who recognize the importance of ESG in accessing capital and growing economies. The nature of this innovative facility enables effective access to ESG expertise and best practice for African enterprises the Fund invests in. This aligns to our objective of growing Sustainable Finance across the continent with appropriate and credible product development.”
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Lina Osman, head of Sustainable Finance Africa and Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank, commented, “Africa faces significant challenges from climate change and huge opportunities to leapfrog to low carbon and sustainable business models. We are proud to have partnered with Helios to embed ESG performance targets into its capital call facility reflecting Helios’s commitment to sustainable investment and Standard Chartered Bank’s sustainable finance product offering.”
Recall, Helios Investment Partners as at July last year announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the largest and most diversified group of MedTech companies in Morocco.
The consolidated group operates in medical devices, in vitro diagnostic and pharmaceuticals, and comprises four companies: Techniques Science Santé (“T2S”), IM Alliance, Cyclopharma and Binarios.
For the past decades, the Group has been an anchor and reliable supplier to both public and private healthcare centres, providing state-of-the-art medical solutions for critical segments such as radiology, oncology, cardiology, and in vitro diagnostic.
Abbad El Andaloussi, partner at Helios, had commented at the acquisition last year that “We are very excited to partner with Abderraouf Sordo and his leadership team, pioneers in the healthcare market in Morocco and the rest of Francophone Africa.”
The consolidation of the four companies forms the largest MedTech group in the region, well positioned to support the strong growth potential of the underpenetrated healthcare market in Francophone Africa.
”We look forward to working with the Group to continue expanding its local presence and carry out our shared vision to expand the platform in other African countries in the future.” Sordo, founder and CEO of the Group, added.
