news - Monthly Transaction Overview April 2023

NEWS

Monthly Transaction Overview April 2023

May 5, 2023

As a leading impact investor, FMO supports sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs. FMO believes that a strong private sector leads to economic and social development and has a 50+ year proven track record of enabling people to employ their skills and improve their quality of life.

Financial Institutions

Arohan   
MFI-NBFC in India 

FMO invested equity of USD 8 mln (equivalent in INR) in Arohan Financial Services Ltd. Arohan is a microfinance institution that currently serves around 2 million low-income female borrowers - mostly in the economically underdeveloped regions of Eastern and Northern India, contributing to both SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities) and SDG 5 (Gender equality). This is the second leg of a total investment of USD 20 mln commitment from FMO, with the first tranche having been disbursed in February this year. Alongside FMO, TIAA-Nuveen and IFU also invested in the current round, thereby equipping Arohan for its next phase of growth. 

Mediterranea Capital  
North Africa focused generalist private equity fund   

FMO committed EUR 25 mln to the first closing of MC IV - which is the third fund by Mediterrania Capital Partners which FMO commits to. MC IV will target majority and significant minority investments in Mid-Cap corporations operating primarily in North-Africa, with some allocation to Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa. Through providing growth capital to Mid-Cap corporations in its target region, MC IV aims to partner with management teams to support them with scaling existing operations and further institutionalization.

Araratbank  
MSME-focused bank in Armenia   

FMO signed a USD 10 million top-up NASIRA risk sharing facility with Araratbank in Armenia.  This is a first repeat NASIRA transaction demonstrating the scalability and the importance of this product in furthering not only FMO’s impact agenda but also helping client to sharpen their MSME strategy. The purpose of the guarantee is to support the growth of women, youth, agriculture focused MSMEs. Armenia is a low-middle income country where still a significant part of the population live below the poverty line. With this transaction, FMO via its long-standing partner Araratbank will contribute to improve access to finance for Armenian MSMEs that remain underserved thereby supporting its goal of Reducing Inequality.

OCN Microinvest SRL  
Largest MFI in Moldova  

FMO disbursed a EUR 15m senior loan facility to Microinvest, our longstanding partner in Moldova. Microinvest’s mission is to support urban and rural MSME customers neglected by the traditional banking system. They provide micro lending to small entrepreneurs through its nationwide network and serves predominantly rural clients. With a large part of its portfolio in the agri sector (29% of total portfolio and 44% of its business loans portfolio), Microinvest contributes to the socio-economic development of the country. The facility will be dedicated to micro and/or SMEs with a focus on young women or rural borrowers in agriculture. This transaction fits well with FMO's aim to support the economic growth and inclusiveness of Moldova. It also deepens FMO relationship with Microinvest at a time when it’s needed the most given the regional geopolitical and economic uncertainties triggered by the war in Ukraine.

 

Agribusiness, Food and Water 

Kilic Deniz 
Aquaculture value chain operations company

FMO signed a syndicated term facility of EUR 60mln with Kılıç Deniz, a leading global supplier of various Mediterranean fish species (exporting seafood to over 60 countries). Kılıç started off as a family business in 1993 and has been a client since 2019. They operate an aquaculture value chain, which includes juvenile and fish feed production, fish farming in marine and fresh-water cages, and processing which adds ILX Fund to the mix - aims to finance Kılıç’s growth plan as they expand into a wider range of fish species by investing in new marine fish farms and processing and packaging units in the Black Sea region of Turkey. This transaction also supports SDGs 2, 8, 12, 13, and 17 specifically.

Private Equity

Waycool Foods & Products Pvt Ltd 
Agri-tech company  

FMO participated with an (follow-on) equity investment of USD 1.5mln from the FMO Ventures Program in an internal investment round. Waycool is an Agri-tech company active in the supply chain technologies space in India. The Company leverages technology and automation to streamline India’s fragmented food value chains, reducing food waste, improving food quality, and increasing smallholder farmer income. As such, the investment is labelled both Green and RI. Including this round, FMO has invested ~USD 13mln in Waycool from both the FMO Ventures program and DFCD. The funds will be used to bring the Company to profitability.

Energy

Nur Samarkand, Nur Jizzakh, Nur Sherabad 
Solar PV Developers

FMO signed three Participation Agreements with EBRD for B-loans in a total of USD 18 million for three solar PV plants in Uzbekistan. Masdar, The Sponsor, will use these facilities for the development, construction, and operation of the solar PV plants that will contribute to 1 GW of clean capacity in Uzbekistan, benefiting more than 1 million households while displacing over 1 million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year. The projects are located in the south-eastern part of the country and are designed to contribute to not only increasing Uzbekistan’s total power capacity, but also diversifying the energy mix from gas, in line with the country’s ambitions to reach 25% RE generation by 2030.

Africa REN  
Renewable Energy platform

FMO invested EUR 7mln in the Africa REN energy platform for the acquisition of solar PV plant Senergy 2 in Senegal. The investment is a co-investment with the Metier Sustainable Capital International Fund II and will complement a platform which already owns other solar PV initiatives in the region. The Africa Ren platform has been part of FMO’s portfolio since 2021.

Borusan EnBW 
Energy company

FMO has signed a participation agreement with EBRD for a USD 80mln senior secured loan to Borusan EnBW. The transaction is part of a USD 600mln financing package with local commercial banks. This financing will enable Borusan EnBW to further strengthen its balance sheet with better suited maturity profile, increase cash utilization towards future renewable energy projects, benefit from having direct access to the stable cash flows from the existing projects for the financing of future merchant risk projects, and increase operational efficiency. EBRD and FMO as DFIs have a complementary role in facilitating the successful implementation of this corporate reorganization and debt reprofiling as well as an immediate realization of renewable energy expansion plans.

Share this page