The Abraaj Group Exits HFC Bank

The Abraaj Group, an investor in growth markets, said Wednesday that it has sold its stake in HFC Bank to Republic Bank Limited, an independent Caribbean bank. No financial terms were disclosed. Based in Ghana, HFC is a provider of financial services.

PRESS RELEASE

Accra, Ghana, 31 July 2013: The Abraaj Group, a leading investor operating in growth markets, today announced the successful exit of its investment in Ghana based HFC Bank (Ghana) Limited (HFC). The Group sold its stake in HFC to Republic Bank Limited (RepBank), an independent Caribbean bank.
The Abraaj Group, through one of its Funds, acquired its initial stake in HFC in 2010 and made an additional investment in 2012. During Abraaj’s investment, HFC has become one of the leading domestic banks in Ghana and remained strongly capitalised, allowing it to increase its branch network. HFC currently has 27 branches across Ghana, and is working to open additional branches as it expands its reach.
With The Abraaj Group’s support, lending to businesses and consumers and deposits has grown significantly, with loans and advances to customers increasing over 100 per cent from GHS160 million to GHS330 million, and deposits from customers growing over 150 per cent from GHS123 million to GHS312 million.
HFC Bank was formed in 1990, listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange in 1995. The Bank existed as an independent mortgage finance institution until 2003, when it expanded into universal banking, providing a wide variety of financial services.
Commenting on the exit, Jacob Kholi, Partner, The Abraaj Group, said: “Our investment in HFC was well timed as we capitalized on the rapid growth in the banking sector in Ghana. With the support of the other stakeholders, the Bank executed a successful strategy which has attracted a lot of strategic interest. This created the opportunity for our successful exit. We believe that the new partnership being forged with RepBank will propel HFC to the next level of its growth.”
Mr. Asare Akuffo, Managing Director of HFC, commented: “The investment by Abraajhas enabled HFC to lay the foundations that will facilitate the next phase of our growth and expansion.”
The acquiring company, RepBank, is an independent Caribbean bank with a history that spans 176 years of service. RepBank has its roots in the Colonial Bank which started business in Ghana in 1837.
THE ABRAAJ GROUP
The Abraaj Group is a leading investor operating in the growth markets of Asia, MENA, Turkey and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. In 2012 it completed the merger of Aureos Capital, thereby creating the deepest bench of private equity experience across growth markets.
Employing over 300 people, the Group has over 30 offices spread across 6 regional hubs in Dubai, Istanbul, Mexico City, Mumbai, Nairobi and Singapore. Local presence across these markets provides the Group with unmatched expertise, know-how, proprietary transactional access and the ability to grow partner businesses across borders.
The Abraaj Group currently manages US$ 7.5 billion across 25 sector and country-specific Funds, encompassing private equity (majority and significant minority investments with ticket sizes between US$ 10 million to US$ 100 million) and real estate (primarily yield-generating) investments.Funds managed by the Group have holdings in over 150 partner companies that collectively employ over 200,000 people and create sustainable value in sectors including manufacturing, education, retail, aviation, oil and gas, financial payments infrastructure, healthcare and agribusiness. The Group’s current partner companies include industry leaders such as Network International, the largest independent payment solutions provider in the Middle East and Africa, NEP Holding, with its Diamond brand and a market leader in the residential filtration market of Malaysia (with a growing presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southern China), Brookside Dairy, the leading dairy in East Africa and, Iasacorp, a long established family run women’s retail business in Peru.
The Group has set the standard for private equity investing in growth markets, having returned c. US$ 4 billion to investors from over 60 full and partial exits, providing industry leading returns across a range of companies that have emerged as today’s regional champions and tomorrow’s global challengers.
The Abraaj Group has an investor base of 300, including corporates, development finance institutions, financial institutions, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, high net worth individuals and other institutional investors from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.
The Abraaj Group is committed to the highest environmental, stakeholder engagement and corporate governance standards. The Group is a signatory to the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment and the United Nations Global Compact. The Group’s founder, Arif Naqvi, was appointed to the United Nations Global Compact Board by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon in 2012. In 2013 Mr Naqvi was awarded the Oslo Business for Peace Award, one of the highest forms of recognition given to global business leaders for fostering peace and stability through creating shared values between business and society.
Through its social investing programme, The Abraaj Group has supported best in class organisations focused on entrepreneurship and job creation, healthcare, education and community engagement and thereby enabled a deep-rooted and sustainable impact on the economic landscape of the markets in which it operates.
This publication is issued by Abraaj Capital Limited (ACLD), a member of The Abraaj Group that is authorised and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”). Several Group members are regulated by a number of international regulatory authorities including the DFSA under whose rules ACLD has issued this publication.