RMB helps enable Africa’s first ESG-linked capital call facility

MEDIA RELEASE

24 JANUARY 2022

RMB acts as co-arranger and sustainability coordinator in Helios’s ESG-linked capital facility

Leading Africa-focused private investment firm Helios Investment Partners (Helios) is pleased to announce that it has secured an ESG-linked capital call facility for Helios Investors IV, L.P. (Helios IV or the fund).  Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Chartered Bank acted as arrangers and sustainability coordinators.

This facility, the first of its kind in Africa, demonstrates Helios’s commitment to building profitable, value-creating and socially responsible businesses in Africa.

The interest rate of the Helios IV capital call facility is pegged to ESG performance targets, set by lenders Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. Individual ESG ratings of the fund’s portfolio companies will be determined by an independent ratings agency.

Helios will continue its longstanding practice of working closely with its portfolio companies to improve their ESG performance and capabilities on an ongoing basis, both from a risk management as well as a value creation perspective.  

Paul Cunningham, Chief Financial Officer of Helios, commented: “The imperative to meet high ESG standards is integrated into everything Helios does. This facility allows us to target and track continuous improvement in ESG ratings for our portfolio companies in a tangible way. We believe that companies with strong ESG standards and performance will generate superior financial returns and we are excited by the opportunity this facility will bring to drive growth with impact.”

Says Jerrod Moodley of Sustainable Finance and ESG Advisory at Rand Merchant Bank: “We are proud to partner with Helios, as a leading Africa focused private investment firm, who recognise the importance of ESG in accessing capital and growing economies. The nature of this innovative facility, enables effective access to ESG expertise and best practice for African enterprises the Fund invests in. This aligns to our objective of growing Sustainable Finance across the continent with appropriate and credible product development.”

Lina Osman, Head of Sustainable Finance Africa and Middle East at Standard Chartered Bank commented:  “Africa faces significant challenges from climate change and huge opportunities to leapfrog to low carbon and sustainable business models. We are proud to have partnered with Helios to embed ESG performance targets into its capital call facility reflecting Helios’s commitment to sustainable investment and Standard Chartered Bank’s sustainable finance product offering.”

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Contact:

Kate Kelly l kate.kelly@rmb.co.za