J.P. Morgan will provide private equity fund administration services to a Pan-African private equity fund initiated by singer and philanthropist Bob Geldof that plans to invest in businesses across a broad range of industries, with the aim of driving long-term growth in Africa.
J.P. Morgan will provide a set of comprehensive services including fund and partnership accounting, capital call/distribution management, investor reporting, and investor tracking, investor relations support and treasury services.
8 Miles I, managed by London-based private equity firm 8 Miles, closed its first fund raising early this year, raising $200 million from investors including: African Development Bank; CDC, which is the UK government-owned development-finance institution; and the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector arm. The fund hopes to raise about $450 million and plans to focus on growth sectors in Africa including agribusiness, consumer and retail, health, telecommunications, banking and financial services.
James Hutter, global head of J.P. Morgans private equity and real estate services business within WSS, said: “We are excited to be working on such an innovative and worthwhile initiative, which demonstrates our ongoing commitment to Sub-Saharan and North Africa. Private equity funds of all sizes are increasingly turning to independent administrators like J.P. Morgan that have the global scale and reach to deliver administration services anywhere in the world.”
Nathan Mintah, co-founder and co-managing partner of 8 Miles, said: “8 Miles will seek to invest in companies in our target sectors with the aim of supporting their growth into market-leading companies and regional champions in Africa. We look forward to working with J.P. Morgan, as fund administrator, to achieve 8 Miles objective of sustainable private equity investment in Africa.”
(JDC)