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Ethos Capital sees uptick in foreign investor interest
Ethos Capital Partners says it believes foreign interest in participating in fund raising has improved as optimism returns to the market following Cyril Ramaphosa’s elevation to the presidency and promises to work on governance and policy.
Ethos Capital Partners invests in funds managed by private equity firm Ethos.
"As a foreign investor looking to invest in SA, the region’s growth outlook compared to other global investment destinations has been lower over the last 12 months," said Ethos Capital CEO Peter Hayward-Butt.
"But recently, we’ve had lots of interest in SA as investors have started to take a more bullish view on the country’s prospects," he said.
Ethos Capital reported a 4% increase in its net asset value to R1.9bn during the six months to December 2017, bolstered by R480m in new investments, including corporate clothing manufacturer Kevro and media group Primedia. Its total invested assets are now valued at R730m, with the bulk of the company’s net asset value remaining in money market instruments.
"We have about R1.2bn in cash and access to R600m in bank funding," said Hayward-Butt. "We have made commitments to the various Ethos funds of about R1.4bn."
Ethos’s underlying funds are in exclusive negotiations for deals in the consumer services, fast-moving consumer goods, industrial services and hospital sectors. It has also signed deals for information and communication technology, medical technology and fast-moving consumer goods. All these would require R388m of funding from Ethos Capital.
"We’ll be 60% invested if these deals complete," said Hayward-Butt. Ethos was not in a rush to do deals and would take time to find the right investments at the right price. Ethos Capital was targeting a 3% dividend yield once it was fully invested, which the CEO said was likely to take some time.
