Nigeria’s Globacom Acquisition of Comium Cote d’Ivoire

Nigeria’s No. 2 mobile phone firm Globacom offered  to buy Cote d’Ivoire’s fourth largest mobile operator Comium in a $600 million deal. This  would expand Globacom’s operations in the West African region to four countries, including Benin and Ghana.

Atlas Mara Acquisitions in Rwanda

Atlas Mara, a London Stock Exchange-listed private equity fund that was founded by  ex-Barclays chief executive Bob Diamand and Dubai-based Ugandan entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar, bought a majority stake in Banque Populaire de Rwanda (BPR), clearing way for a merger with BRD Commercial Bank that will see it become one of the largest lenders in the country.

Al Noor’s $11.4B acquisition of South Africa-based Mediclinic

Abu Dhabi-based Al Noor Hospitals announced that it has decided to merge with South Africa-based Mediclinic in a $11.4 billion deal, making it the single largest merger that involved an African based company. The London-listed Al Noor will change its name to Mediclinic International plc and cross-list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and possibly on the Namibian Stock Exchange.

Helios sold half of its stake in Kenya’s Equity Bank

London-based private equity firm Helios EB Investors, who were the largest shareholders in East Africa’s fastest growing commercial bank Equity Group, sold their half of their stake (12.23 percent) in the lender to Norwegian funds Norfund and NorFinance AS for 23 billion shillings ($230 million)

Lafarge Africa acquisition of Nigeria’s 3rd largest cement manufacture

In October, Nigeria Cement Holdings, an affiliate of Lafarge Africa, bought 100 percent stake in Nigeria’s third-largest cement manufacturer United Cement Company of Nigeria (UNICEM) for undisclosed amount. Another successful M&A Africa story.

French-based Orange Group sold Kenyan unit to Helios Investments

In November, French-owned Orange Group announced that it had signed a binding agreement with Helios Investment Partners for the sale of its entire 70 percent stake in Orange Kenya. Orange Kenya is the country’s incumbent fixed line operator and the third player in the mobile market. The deal came a year after Orange exited the Ugandan market and reflects Orange’s constant focus on optimizing its portfolio of assets across sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa’s Curro Holding bid to merge private schools in the country

A plan by South Africa’s Curro Holdings to merge private schools in the country collapsed after parents warned they will withdraw their kids. Parents said the company segregates students into races. Curro was in negotiations to acquire rival Advtech, which runs a smaller number of prestigious schools in the country. Curro  has said it is considering relaunching a 6 billion rand ($485 million)  hostile takeover bid for rival Advtech.

South Africa’s Braits sold stake in Steinhoff International for $1 billion

South African investment firm Brait SE sold a 6 percent stake in furniture retailer Steinhoff International for about 16 billion rand ($1 billion) and said it used most of the proceeds to pay off debt.