Helios Investment Partners: plans to raise $300m
Helios Investment Partners plans to raise $300m for its first oil fund as lower crude prices reduce company valuations, said three people familiar with the fundraising.
Helios, the Africa-focused private-equity group led by Tope Lawani and Babatunde Soyoye, would use the unit to co-invest alongside its generalist funds, said the people, who did not want to be identified as talks with investors are private and fundraising has not yet closed.
Helios joins a rush among many other buyout firms to raise money to acquire energy companies after oil prices plunged to $50 a barrel from more than $100.
The world’s top four private-equity groups, Carlyle Group, Apollo Global Management, Blackstone Group and KKR, have raised about $30bn for energy deals in the past 18 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The company — which recently stopped taking money for its largest fund after exceeding an initial $1bn target — told potential investors it saw opportunities particularly in Nigerian-owned private-energy businesses, according to the sources. It also saw potential in Egypt and Gabon.