The Aureos Southern Africa Fund has sold its stake in Orange Madagascar, the mobile phone service business, realising an internal rate of return of 44 per cent for investors.
Orange Madagascar is part of the Orange brand and its majority shareholder is France Telecom.
The Aureos Southern Africa Fund is managed by Aureos Capital, a private equity fund management company specialising in investing in small and medium sized businesses in emerging markets.
Aureos invested in Orange Madagascar, one of four mobile phone companies operating in Madagascar, in September 2005.
Ron den Besten, Aureos managing partner, Southern Africa, says: “Orange Madagascar’s subscriber base increased over tenfold during our investment window. In part, their growth has been helped by their fresh approach to network tariffs that have been aligned to better match the local market.”
This year Aureos completed fundraising for its new Africa Fund having raised USD381.1m. It is believed to be the largest ever private equity fund to focus on investing in small and medium-sized businesses across Africa.
