The country’s largest diversified financial services group, Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited (BIHL), has finalised the sale of its 37.6 percent stake in Funeral Services Group (FSG) to a unit of private equity firm, Africa Lighthouse Capital.
In an announcement to the Botswana Stock Exchange this afternoon, BIHL said all regulatory approvals for the deal had been granted and the P250 million paid as agreed.
FSG is a leading funeral services provider, with operations in Botswana, South Africa and Zambia. FSG manufactures and sells coffins and caskets, provides funeral-related services and also offers funeral insurance in partnership with Botswana Life, a wholly owned BIHL entity.
Africa Lighthouse Capital holds a P500 million private equity mandate from the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund and has a pipeline of projects to pump funds into. The firm’s officials previously told Mmegi that they had at least 80 potential projects they were assessing for possible investment.
The private equity firm typically aims for equity control ranging from 15% to 80% and invests between P30 million to P150 million although it can consider amounts larger or smaller. With the BIHL deal, Africa Lighthouse will now have 56.99 percent equity in FSG.
Africa Lighthouse usually invests for up to seven years and exits the investment via sale to other industry players, listings, sale to larger private equity firms, share buyback and other methods.
