Accra, 23rd April 2013: Jacana Partners, the pan-African private equity firm that invests in small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to deliver social and financial returns, has today announced the appointment of Shaun Collyer as Chief Investment Officer (CIO), in a newly created position that will considerably strengthen Jacana’s investment team.
As CIO, Shaun will be responsible for the implementation of Jacana’s investment strategy across East and West Africa, including Ghana where Jacana has sixteen investments, ensuring quality control and discipline in execution of the investment process, strategic portfolio management and the development of successful exits.
The appointment of Shaun, a South African national and the former CEO of Batian Fund in East Africa, comes ahead of the expected close of Jacana’s new $75 million pan-African SME fund later this year.Formerly of Pegasus Capital and Three Cities in New York, Shaun has closed many buy-side private equity and add-on transactions, often in situations that required restructuring or complex structuring and hands-on operational support, and hasprovided value-add private equity investment to over 20 portfolio companies.
Based in the firm’s Nairobi office but with frequent travel across Jacana’s West and East Africa operations, including Ghana, Shaun will play an active role in delivering Jacana’s investment strategy across its three current funds, totalling $43 million,as well as the new $75 million SME Fund for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that Jacana is currently raising from international investors. As CIO, Shaun will be a partner and investment committee member for this fund.
Simon Merchant, CEO of Jacana Partners said: “Shaun brings over 18 years of private equity and corporate finance experience in the US and Africa to Jacana.
The considerable operational experience he has acquired over the past two decades, together with his keen entrepreneurial spirit and track record of successful private equity investments,makes Shaun a valuable addition to the team and we are looking forward to the senior-level support and oversight he will bring to the investment process.”
Speaking of the appointment, Shaun said:“I have been very impressed with Jacana’s broadly experiencedteam, their unique approach to investing in Africa’s SMEs and impressive track record to date.
The next few years’ will be an exciting time for Jacana, and I am looking forward to bringing my skills and experience to the team so that we can continue providing value-add private equity investment to entrepreneurs and making the most of the unprecedented investment opportunities offered by sub-Saharan Africa for our investors.”
Editor’s Note:
About Shaun Collyer:
Shaun is the former CEO of Batian Fund, an SME start-up fund focused on East and Southern Africa, where he was responsible for the formation of the fund, including building the pipeline, team and investment process. Prior to that, Shaun worked in the expansion and growth buy-out team at Pegasus Capital in New York where he completed nine transactions (including add-on acquisitions), and in the special situations, restructuring and turnaround team at Three Cities in New York where he completed five transactions. Shaun has an MBA from Columbia University and London Business School and is a certified Chartered Accountant.
About Jacana Partners:
Jacana Partners is a pan-African private equity firm that invests in entrepreneurs, builds successful SMEs and delivers sustainable financial and social returns. We do this because we are passionate about entrepreneurs as the key drivers of job creation and long-term economic development in Africa. Jacana is uniquely structured to overcome the challenges of private equity investing in SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Combining internationally experienced private equity veterans with highly skilled teams on-the-ground, Jacana has the experience, knowledge and resources to structure great deals, build sustainable businesses and deliver superior returns. Jacana invests between $1-5 million in SMEs across a variety of sectors in six markets in West and East Africa (Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda) and intends to move into two new countries with its next fund, such as Ethiopia, Nigeria and/or Francophone West Africa. Jacana has invested $20 million to date in 20 portfolio companies, creating over 1,300 jobs. Jacana is the only pan-African private equity company with a permanent commitment to the SME sector. For more information, please visit www.jacanapartners.com.
Contact:
For more information, images, or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Sophie Capron
Marketing Director, Jacana Partners
+44(0)7867 421 226
[email protected]