The fund IPAE 1 completes two exits with strategic partners

The fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 1 (IPAE 1), launched by Investisseurs & Partenaires in 2012, exits from two companies of its portfolio: the group CONERGIES, based in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, and the Senegalese company Delta Irrigation. Both are made with strategic partners who can bring these companies to a new stage of development while respecting the vision and values of I&P and the entrepreneurs.

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Strategic partners to pursue the development of promising African SMEs

Founded in 2003 in Senegal, Delta Irrigation is specialized in the design and construction of irrigation equipment, with a focus on agriculture and water treatment. I&P has notably supported the company's diversification strategy, which now operates in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire. IPAE 1 sells the majority of its shares to two strategic partners of Delta, Kulker, a French provider of irrigation equipment, and Bernegal, a Senegalese company of the Agrifos group which operates in the agricultural sector. A part of the shares was also sold to the director of Delta Irrigation in Côte d'Ivoire.

CONERGIES engineers, installs and provides maintenance for air conditioning and industrial cooling systems, in Cote d’Ivoire and Mali. In line with its initial commitment, I&P exited the company after 6 years, during which the team supported the launch of CONERGIES’ activities in Côte d’Ivoire and defined a new marketing strategy for the group. I&P’s shares were acquired by the EDF Group. This new partnership between EDF and CONERGIES aims to develop energy efficiency solutions in West Africa. 

“We are proud to sell our shares to these strategic actors, who will bring these two companies to a new stage of corporate growth” says Sébastien Boyé, Chief Investment Officer at I&P. “We are convinced of the strategic and industrial value of these partnerships and of their alignment in terms of values and environment and social oversight, which have been pivotal to our investments”

High performance and high-impacts exits for the fund IPAE 1

Between 2012 and 2017, the €54 million fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 1 (IPAE 1) financed 29 African SMEs operating in twelve Sub-Saharan countries and a great variety of sectors (agro-industry, health, microfinance…). While the successor fund IPAE 2 makes its first investments, the exit process is well advanced for IPAE 1 portfolio companies and demonstrates the strategic interest that structured African SMEs with high growth and impact potential can offer. These two new exits represent a very good financial performance, in line with the fund's objectives. Between 2012 and 2018, the turnover of these companies increased fivefold and the number of employees threefold, from 5 to 15 employees for Delta and from 35 to 100 employees for CONERGIES respectively.

As an impact investor with a minority shareholding, Investisseurs & Partenaires targets exit options that are aligned with the entrepreneur's vision and the impact strategy implemented for each company. An action plan on ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) issues is defined for each company of the portfolio, as well as a series of impact indicators, updated annually. For CONERGIES and Delta Irrigation, the focus has mainly been on the environment (energy efficiency measures) and employee well-being (health insurance, workplace safety, etc.)