A unit of Old Mutual hired Goldman Sachs to help it acquire Africa-focused renewable-energy firm Lekela Power, according to people familiar with the matter.
Buyout firm Actis has drawn broad interest for its 60% stake in Lekela, including bidders from China and the Middle East, said the people who asked not to be identified because the matter is still private. Old Mutual is bidding for Lekela through its African Infrastructure Investment Managers unit, they said.
Actis helped set up Lekela in 2015 and the group has built a 1,300MW portfolio across Egypt, Ghana, SA and Senegal, according to its website. Following that sale, the company could exit its stake in BioTherm Energy, one of the people said. Lekela may be worth more than $2bn and Actis is working with Citigroup to sell the stake. Lekela’s other investor, Mainstream Renewable Power, backed by billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke’s Aker, is another potential buyer.Lekela has a reputation of being “willing to take on challenges and are pretty forward-looking”. said Antoine Vagneur-Jones, an analyst at BloombergNEF’s energy transitions team.