Actis Capital

Actis Capital LLP
Limited liability partnership
Industry Private equity, Emerging markets
Predecessor CDC Group
Founded 2004[1]
Headquarters London, England, United Kingdom
Total assets $4.8 billion
Number of employees
 100+
Website www.act.is

Actis Capital LLP (commonly known as Actis) is a private equity firm headquartered in the London Borough of Southwark.[2] It is focused on investments in emerging markets in Africa, China, India, Latin America, and South East Asia. Actis has over 100 investment professionals located in nine countries around the emerging markets.

Actis was formed in July 2004, as a spinout of CDC Group plc (formerly the Commonwealth Development Corporation), an organization established by the UK Government in 1948 to invest in developing economies in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. The Actis management team acquired majority ownership of CDC's emerging markets investment platform.

Actis has US$4.5 billion of capital under management across three global emerging markets funds and a series of smaller, focused regional funds. Actis closed its Actis Emerging Markets 3 fund with $2.9 billion of investor commitments. The fund was launched in September 2007 with an original target of $2.5 billion.[3] CDC remains an active sponsor of Actis' investment activities, committing $650 million to the firm's third fund.[4]

History

Actis was created in 2004 as a spinout from CDC Group and a 60% stake was sold to CDC managers and staff for a total consideration of £373,000. The new company was given a five-year 'umbrella' guarantee that it would continue to manage all CDC's existing overseas investments totalling $900 million in CDC funds. According to the UK's Department for International Development, the price was agreed after a valuation by financial advisers KPMG. Under the 2004 deal that created Actis, if the company was to be sold on the open market within 10 years, 80% of the profits and proceeds would go back to the government.

In 2007, UK prime minister Gordon Brown came under attack over the sell-off of Actis after it became apparent that the formerly government-owned business had made millions of pounds for its former employees.[5]

On 1 May 2012 the Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, announced that the state's remaining 40% stake had been sold to the Actis management for an initial £8m. The deal also included a share of future profits that could be worth over £62m to the UK Government.[6]

In August 2013, Actis acquired the South African firm Transaction Capital’s payment services unit, Paycorp, for $95 million.[7]

In October 2013, the firm announced it had invested $48 million in the Indian pharmaceuticals company Symbiotec Pharmalab for a "significant stake".[8]

References

  1. ↑ Spinout from CDC Group
  2. ↑ "Company Overview of Actis Capital, LLP" (Archive). Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved on September 1, 2014. "2 More London Riverside London, SE1 2JT United Kingdom"
  3. ↑ Actis Emerging Markets 3 closes above target on $2.9bn. AltAssets, 1 December 2008
  4. ↑ CDC commits $650m to Actis emerging markets funds. AltAssets, 21 May 2008
  5. ↑ MPs blast 'incompetent' Brown over company sell-off. The Observer, 25 November 2007
  6. ↑ UK sells share in emerging markets private equity group Actis. The Guardian, 2 May 2012
  7. ↑ South Africa's Transaction Capital sells unit to Actis for $95 mln, International: Reuters, 2013
  8. ↑ Indulal PM (22 October 2013). "PE firm Actis says invests $48 million in Indian pharma company". Reuters.

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