The Aureos Africa Health Fund has invested USD2.75 million in a Kenyan healthcare devices company, Revital Healthcare EPZ Limited (Revital).
Revital is based in Mombasa and specialises in the manufacture of single use auto disable hypodermic syringes (AD Syringes). AD Syringes are a key weapon in reducing the transmission of HIV and other blood-borne diseases as they disable after a single use, guaranteeing that they cannot be reused. Their use is mandated by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation.
In addition to the production of AD Syringes, Revital produces a range of other disposable medical products.
The Africa Health Fund’s investment into Rivatal will help it to expand its production capacity of AD Syringes (in particular) and as such provide healthcare providers across East, Central and Southern Africa with an alternative to more expensive imported AD syringes from Europe and Asia.
It is expected that the Revital expansion plan will generate additional direct and indirect employment of 350 Kenyans.
The investment will also enable Revital to continue its community support programme. In 2010 Revital supplied seven million syringes for use in an immunisation drive to fight a measles outbreak in Malawi. They also donated 500,000 syringes to support a Kenyan Government immunisation drive for children under the age of one.
The Africa Health Fund is managed by Aureos Capital Limited (“Aureos”), a leading private equity fund management company specialising in building socially sustainable small and medium-sized businesses in emerging markets.
The Fund’s objective is to help low income Africans to gain access to affordable, high quality health services while providing investors with good long-term financial returns, and has already made investments in hospitals in Kenya and Ghana. It draws on Aureos’ unique expertise in building environmental, social and governance performance into its investments as an integral part of managing risk and generating returns, particularly in Africa where managing employees’ health is a major challenge for many of Aureos’ portfolio companies.
Established by Aureos, cornerstone investors in the Africa Health Fund include the International Finance Corporation, the African Development Bank, DEG, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Aureos combines a broad local presence with deep local knowledge. Its network of more than 20 offices covering more than 50 markets has particular expertise in the healthcare sector, with investments in hospitals and medical supply companies across Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Shakir Merali (pictured), Partner, Aureos Africa Managers Ltd, says: “Our work with healthcare providers in Africa gave us an instant appreciation of the strong regional demand for Revital’s products, so we are really excited to have the opportunity to use our experience of developing small and medium sized businesses into regional players to help Revital to expand into new products and markets.”
“As well as generating attractive returns for the fund’s investors, this will help to reduce the spread of HIV across Africa by making AD Syringes more widely available and at a lower cost than the imported products currently in use.”
“The investment illustrates how important it is to invest in the wider healthcare infrastructure in Africa as well as in specific healthcare providers. By increasing the production of crucial devices and equipment within Africa, our investment will help lower costs for all medical practitioners in the region, whether they are in the state, private or voluntary sectors.”
Rajni C Vora, Chief Executive Officer of Revital, says: “We are delighted to be working with an investor with in-depth knowledge of the health sector. Their input and global network has already been invaluable in helping us to define our strategy and the concrete steps we need to take to put it into practice. Revital is present in eight African countries and one Asian country and with Aureos’ support Revital expects to be present in at least 20 countries.”
