Inquirer Online

October 9th 2020

TLG Capital (TLG) today announced it has purchased 49% of Opportunity Bank Uganda Ltd (OBUL), a tier 1 financial institution (commercial bank) with 23 branches and 22 ATM points across Uganda. OBUL is licenced and regulated by the Central Bank of Uganda and offers tailormade products and services for individuals, micro-businesses, and small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The bank was originally a microfinance institution founded in 1995. The transaction makes TLG the largest shareholder of OBUL. Remaining shareholders (all NGOs) include Opportunity International Group (43%), Faulu Uganda (7%), and Food for the Hungry (1%).

TLG’s investment was made via its Credit Opportunities Fund (COF) and marks a continued focus on building and supporting SMEs in three core sectors: Healthcare, Financial Institutions, and Consumer Goods. TLG has been an investor in Uganda for over a decade and other Ugandan investments include Cipla Quality Chemicals Ltd (pharmaceutical manufacturing), Vero Foods (water-bottling plant) and BAJ Service Stations (fuel retail).

Isha Doshi, partner and CFO at TLG Capital said: “TLG was founded with the belief that social development and commercial returns can and should go hand in hand. The COF was specifically set up to support quality SMEs, and we are excited to welcome OBUL to the TLG family. Financial inclusion is a key aspect of development, and TLG looks forward to serving the unbanked and underbanked further. OBUL’s products such as the Boda Boda Loan (loan product for motorcycle riders who want to acquire or expand their business), WASH (water and sanitation loans) and the education and laptop loans fit perfectly with the impact that TLG aims to create.”

Banks and financial institutions have been hit hard across the continent due to COVID-19. TLG believes that this makes it the right time to invest in the sector, both from a commercial point of view and from an impact perspective. TLG believes that overlaying further digital technology within the bank’s product suite will expand the bank’s reach and lay a stronger pathway towards including those currently outside of the financial system. The expertise that TLG brings in terms of fintech will help OBUL progress effectively in this effort.

Phillip Karugaba, the Chairman of the OBUL Board of Directors, said he was excited and pleased with developments. “TLG Capital knows Uganda very well. We look forward to the synergies from working with TLG.”

MyBucks SA (the selling shareholder) Chairman Craig Lyons commented: “The sale of OBUL to TLG, a well-respected investment company fits into our strategy of rationalising MyBucks SA to reduce debt and ensure the company is in a financially healthy position to grow its remaining investments. TLG presented a well-constructed offer that enables MyBucks to exit at an attractive value. The positive engagements between TLG and OBUL management will no doubt enable OBUL to grow from strength to strength. We wish TLG and all stakeholders in OBUL much success in the years to come.”
“TLG Capital knows Uganda very well. We look forward to the synergies from working with TLG.”

Julian Thatcher, general counsel at MHMK Group, a pan-African private equity investment firm, was advisor to the deal.

About Opportunity Bank Uganda:
Opportunity Bank Uganda Limited (OBUL) is a Commercial Bank licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Uganda. OBUL offers tailormade products and services for Individuals, micro, small, medium and large sized enterprises.

OBUL was founded in 1995 as a Micro Credit program from Food for the Hungry International (FHI). Other key shareholders include Opportunity International group (43%) which focuses on transformation of communities, Faulu Uganda (7%) and Food for the Hungry (1%).

OBUL has a network of 23 branches and 22 ATM Points distributed in the Central, Eastern, Western and Northern regions of the country. Alternative channels include Agents distributed across the country (120 Agents) and Opportunity mobile banking system (Opportunity Kusiimu). OBUL is also a member of the Interswitch Network and our customers have access to over 400 Interswitch powered ATMS across the country.

[tags TLG Capital exits its investment in BAJ Stations Uganda, TLG Capital BAJ Stations]

December 11th 2020

TLG Capital announced today it is exiting its investment in BAJ Stations Uganda, after nearly 4 years, at 30+% IRR in USD. TLG invested in BAJ Stations through its Credit Opportunities Fund (COF). This is COF’s 8th exit and its 3rd in Uganda.

TLG first invested in BAJ in 2017 when the business had 5 operating fuel stations. Through TLG’s investment, strategic guidance, and support of BAJ’s management team led by Norman Batuma, the business transformed into a significant fuel retailer in Uganda with over 40 fuel stations spanning the length and breadth of Uganda: from Kabale to Mt. Elgon National Park; Namugongo to Murchison falls.

BAJ focused on providing fuel to the lesser developed communities across Uganda by strategically building stations along highways and busy commuter belts – away from large cities. Through this investment TLG further strengthened its value proposition of commercial returns and impact are intertwined and form the bedrock of a sustainable business.

TLG’s mantra of investing in strong business themes run by extraordinary teams and entrepreneurs continues to drive value for its investors. Through this exit COF builds on its phenomenal track record of executing and exiting SME investments in Africa. Saad Sheikh, Principal at TLG Capital said: “Norman is an outstanding and visionary entrepreneur who built the largest locally owned fuel retail enterprise – BAJ Stations. We are proud to have worked with Norman and his team and to have been part of BAJ’s journey. As Norman and the team embark on the next phase of their journey, I am confident that the enterprise would further grow its network to serve lesser developed communities where otherwise people walk/travel for miles to access fuel for motor bikes (Boda Boda) or fishing boats – which in most cases the only source of income for the household.”

TLG’s mantra of investing in strong business themes run by extraordinary teams and entrepreneurs continues to drive value for its investors.

[tags TLG Capital announces acquisition of Cipla’s distribution and marketing business in French West Africa, TLG Capital Cipla, Cipla TLG Capital, TLG Capital]

December 2018

TLG Capital (TLG) today announced the acquisition of the distribution and marketing business in certain therapy areas in French West Africa (FWA) of Cipla Limited (BSE: 500087; NSE: CIPLA EQ; and hereafter referred to as “Cipla”). The deal was concluded on 31st December 2018. This marks TLG’s first investment in FWA and is the firm’s seventh private deal in Africa over the past twelve months.

TLG has been investing in African healthcare since 2009 and this deal is the firm’s fourth investment in the sector. It is also the second partnership between Cipla and TLG in Africa providing an opportunity for the two firms to consolidate and build on a successful ten-year relationship after having first partnered up in 2009 with Cipla Quality Chemicals Industries Limited in Uganda.

The transaction will see TLG acquire the marketing authorisations for a portfolio of 45 drugs from Cipla currently being marketed and distributed in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo Republic, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo – countries where there is a crucial need for such high quality and lower cost drugs. The drugs portfolio, which are currently available for sale in pharmacies, dispensers, hospitals and general wholesale networks, include every-day medicines like pain and fever relief, allergy and ulcer treatments – as well as more specialised medicines, like antiparasitic, antibiotics, cholesterol and high-blood pressure & heart conditions and uncomplicated malaria.

Frederic Bidet, Chief Operating Officer at TLG Capital, said: “This deal reiterates TLG’s commitment to support African businesses that delivers high quality and affordable medical drugs and services across the continent. We are excited about the opportunity in FWA as we believe the markets remain under penetrated. In addition, there is scope to build outside of FWA and potential synergies exist with TLG’s current healthcare portfolio – Snapper Hill Clinics in Liberia and Express Pharmacy in Nigeria. Cipla has been an excellent long-term partner with TLG and we look forward to another successful partnership in Africa.”

“This deal reiterates TLG’s commitment to support African businesses that delivers high quality and affordable medical drugs and services across the continent.”

About TLG Capital:
TLG Capital is an award-winning investment holding company that focuses on private equity and debt opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Debt investments are carried out through the Credit Opportunities Fund which provides investors access to the African consumer growth story. In a short span of time, the firm has built a reputation for achieving superior commercial returns. It has garnered the backing of some of the most prominent and reputable investors in the alternative investments space.

About Cipla Limited:
Established in 1935, Cipla is a global pharmaceutical company focused on agile and sustainable growth, complex generics, and deepening portfolio in our home markets of India, South Africa, North America, and key regulated and emerging markets. Our strengths in the respiratory, anti-retroviral, urology, cardiology and CNS segments are well-known. Our 44 manufacturing sites around the world produce 50+ dosage forms and 1,500+ products using cutting-edge technology platforms to cater to our 80+ markets. Cipla is ranked 3rd largest in pharma in India (IQVIA MAT Sept’18), 3rd largest in the pharma private market in South Africa (IQVIA YTD Aug’18), and is among the most dispensed generic players in the US. For over eight decades, making a difference to patients has inspired every aspect of Cipla’s work. Our paradigm-changing offer of a triple anti-retroviral therapy in HIV/AIDS at less than a dollar a day in Africa in 2001 is widely acknowledged as having contributed to bringing inclusiveness, accessibility and affordability to the centre of the movement. A responsible corporate citizen, Cipla’s humanitarian approach to healthcare in pursuit of its purpose of ‘Caring for Life’ and deep-rooted community links wherever it is present make it a partner of choice to global health bodies, peers and all stakeholders.