Helios Investment Partners is closing its third Africa-focused private equity fund, Helios Investors III, at its $1.1 billion hard cap, said a spokesman for the money manager.
The fund exceeded its $1 billion fundraising target and the capital commitments of its predecessor fund, Helios Investors II, which closed at $908 million in 2011.
Helios Investors III will “acquire and build market-leading, diversified platform companies, operating in the core economic sectors of the key African countries, with an emphasis on portfolio operations as a creator of value,” a news release from the firm said.
The firm already made one investment through Helios Investors III, taking a minority stake in Nigerian pension fund manager ARM Pension Managers PFA, according to the release. ARM Pensions, a subsidiary of Asset & Resource Management Co., is Nigeria’s largest independent pension fund manager, with more than $2.2 billion in assets under management. A source familiar with the situation previously told Pensions & Investments in June that Helios had invested about $50 million. Helios’ spokesman declined to provide the size of the stake.
Investors in Helios Investors III include the $2.7 billion Nashville (Tenn.) & Davidson County Metropolitan Government Employee Benefit Trust Fund.