On April 24, 2003, in Marseilles, CDC PME (Caisse des Dépôts Group), Proparco (AFD Group), CEPAC (Caisse d’Epargne Group) and the EIB (European Investment Bank) launched Averroès Finance, an investment capital fund of funds for the Mediterranean region.
Averroès Finance will acquire stakes in existing or future venture capital funds in the Maghreb and Mashreq countries, which will in turn invest in the equity of start-up, growth or mature local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
It thereby aims to promote the development of structured and professional SME equity financing in the Maghreb and Mashreq, while fostering financial synergies in the region.
Averroès Finance, a simplified joint stock company with initial capital of 26.5 million euro, will benefit greatly from the sectoral and geographical expertise of its promoters: CDC PME (€9 million), PROPARCO (€9 million), Caisse d’Epargne Provence-Alpes-Corse - CEPAC (€5 million) and the EIB (€3.5 million). Averroès Finance is supervised by CDC PME, which manages it jointly with Proparco.
This fund of funds will see its capital increased gradually to €30 million with the inclusion of new subscribers: European and Mediterranean public and semi-public shareholders, institutional investors and financial institutions. CDC-PME and Proparco are bringing to Averroès Finance their holdings in the "Capital Morocco", "Maghreb Private Equity" and "Tuninvest Innovations" funds, to which the EIB has also directly contributed. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
