ACA hosts Alternative Investment Conference in Partnership with SANLAM Group
African Capital Alliance (“ACA”) in collaboration with Sanlam Investments hosted its premier Alternative Investments Conference, on Tuesday, October 29, 2019.
The conference which held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island Lagos, had key stakeholders including institutional investors, fund and asset managers, regulators and service providers in a close interactive session, deliberating and exploring the possibilities with investing in various alternative assets, and their respective roles in a diversified investment portfolio.
The distinguished speakers and panellists shared their insights and experience, including existing concerns with the alternatives asset class that have largely influenced investors and the perceived scarcity of alternative products in the Nigerian market.
ACA announces the sale of Cornerstone Tower
African Capital Alliance (“ACA”) today announced the sale of Cornerstone Tower, an A-grade office building in Lagos, to Everty, a strategic investor that focuses on acquisition and development of prime real estate around the world. ACA’s pioneer Real Estate Fund, Capital Alliance Property Investment Company (“CAPIC”) made the investment in partnership with Cornerstone Insurance Plc. and Fin Insurance.
The building, located in Victoria Island, was completed in April 2019 and has 13 floors comprising 24,000m2 of gross building area, and 12,000m2 of gross lettable space, along with features such as raised floors and multi-level parking.
Cornerstone Tower received an IFC Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (“EDGE”) provisional certification as a green building, a recognition given to encourage developers to reduce their buildings’ energy and water consumption by significant percentages, thus lowering their potential carbon footprint.
Everty shared a few comments on the transaction: “We’re pleased to add Cornerstone Tower to our international real estate portfolio. Everty is committed to investing in assets that are at the cutting edge of design and sustainability; and our purchase of Cornerstone Tower is testament to that. Nigeria is increasingly becoming an attractive country for companies to invest in, and buildings such as Cornerstone Tower reflect the ambition and innovation happening across the country.”
Obi Nwogugu, speaking for ACA said, “The sale of Cornerstone Tower, shows that there is a market for properly developed assets that meet high-quality, international specifications. Despite the challenges in Nigeria’s real estate market over recent years, it has become increasingly competitive and sophisticated. Our strategy is to invest in assets in optimal locations and to prepare them for discerning space users. We remain focused on asset differentiation and delivering good returns across our portfolio”.
Mr. Ganiyu Musa, CEO Cornerstone Insurance Plc also expressed delight at the sale, “Our partners met and, in many instances, exceeded our expectations regarding cost, timeliness and quality. We were extremely pleased at the professionalism from conception to exit”.
With this exit, the Cornerstone Tower portfolio investment has delivered a gross USD IRR of 25.6% to CAPIC’s investors.
About ACA and CAPIC African Capital Alliance (ACA) is a leading pan-African investment firm sponsoring funds and managing investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. Capital Alliance Property Investment Company, L.P. (“CAPIC”) is a $165m fund established to invest in real estate and real estate related opportunities in West Africa. The fund invests in residential, retail, office and hospitality assets. The firm is also in the process of launching CAREN II, which is an income and growth product.
ACA portfolio companies listed in Inspire Africa 2019 report
Source: LSEG
July 8, 2019, Lagos, Nigeria – A number of ACA Portfolio Companies have been listed in the CDC/London Stock Exchange Group Companies to Inspire Africa 2019 Report:
- Bankers Warehouse Plc
- Beloxxi Industries Ltd.
- FilmHouse Ltd
- Niger Delta Exploration and Production Plc
- Swift Networks
Click the link to read more on the full report https://www.lseg.com/resources/companies-inspire-africa/companies-inspire-africa-2019.
MTN lists on Nigeria Stock Exchange
July 8, 2019, Lagos, Nigeria – MTN Nigeria has been listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange by way of Introduction in May 2019, and the shares would be open to Nigerian investors as part of the second phase of the listing. This means that the company was listed in the initial phase, without any public offer or sell-down or initial public offering.
The President and CEO of MTN Group, Mr. Rob Shutter, disclosed that Phase two is targeted at increasing the Nigerian participation in MTN Nigeria, will be a free float of around 35percent.
Cornerstone Tower IFC Edge Certification
The Cornerstone Tower, one of the investments from ACA’s Real Estate Fund, Capital Alliance Property Investment Company (CAPIC), achieved a preliminary EDGE certification on April 5, 2019. Cornerstone Towers is the first commercial building to achieve the EDGE certification in Nigeria and this was merited based on the resource-efficient design of the building which will result in reductions in the use of Energy (31%), Water (53%) and other materials embodied (23%), relative to local benchmarks.
About EDGE
EDGE is an IFC innovation which focuses on solutions and targets that enable property developers to build and brand green and sustainable buildings in a fast, easy and affordable way. www.edgebuildings.com.