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| Douglas Clayton, CEO of Leopard Capital and Rachel Robbins, Vice President and General Counsel of IFC sign IFC’s commitment to Leopard Haiti Fund at IFC Headquarters, Washington, DC |
The
fund seeks to raise USD 40 to 75 million to invest in businesses in Haiti. The first USD 20 million of this target has
now been committed by three international development banks:
- $8.5 million by International Finance Corporation (IFC);
- $8.5 million by Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), through MASSIF, a dedicated fund for SME development that FMO manages for the Dutch State;
- $3.0 million from the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) Group.
Leopard
Capital will now commence LHF’s investment activities while continuing to
approach investors globally and locally to increase the size of the fund. Leopard Capital is concurrently raising a
donor-funded technical assistance facility to finance capacity development
initiatives within LHF’s portfolio companies.
LHF
aims to gain long-term capital appreciation through investing in a diversified
portfolio of private enterprises in Haiti. The Fund seeks commercial
investments with the potential to provide positive economic and social impact.
The Fund will invest risk capital (through equity or quasi-equity instruments) into four priority sectors: 1) Food Processing, 2) Tourism, 3) Affordable Housing and 4) Renewable Energy. It may also selectively invest in other sectors. The majority of the Fund’s investments will focus on expanding existing businesses, including recapitalizing and rebuilding businesses damaged in the 2010 Earthquake. Some of the Fund’s investments will be in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and/or start-up ventures.
In
addition to financing LHF will provide its portfolio companies with operational
support to professionalize their businesses by strengthening management
capacity, worker skills, financial reporting, corporate governance, and social
responsibility policies.
To
manage the Fund, Leopard Capital has established an investment team comprised
of Haitians, expatriate residents, and returning members of the Haitian
Diaspora who have acquired skills abroad.
The team combines experience in Private Equity, Investment Banking,
Operations, Regulatory Compliance and Law.
The team will be based in Port-au-Prince. The local investment team will be backed by
Leopard Capital’s global team which has successfully invested in other frontier
economies such as Cambodia and Laos.
Douglas
Clayton, Leopard Capital’s CEO, commented: “We are pleased to launch Haiti’s
first investment fund with the strong backing of three leading development
banks. As investors we see attractive
opportunities in helping Haitian businesses grow, while strengthening the
country’s economic future. Leopard Haiti
Fund’s success can show the world that Haiti is open for business.”
Ary
Naim, IFC’s Country Head for Haiti commented: "IFC is already actively involved in Haiti in large
project financing, and in the debt financing of SMEs through our banking
partners. Leopard Haiti Fund will now channel much needed capital and improved
governance to small and mid-sized firms with high growth potential, and they
are many in Haiti."
Jurgen
Rigterink, FMO’s Chief Investment Officer commented: “After bringing energy to
Haiti through the E-Power project, FMO will now bring growth capital to Haiti’s
SMEs in order to increase economic activity, while adhering to the highest
environmental and social standards. The resulting job creation will empower the
Haitians to take their destiny in their own hands.”
Susana García-Robles,
Principal Investment Officer of the Multilateral
Investment Fund’s Early Stage Financing Group, commented, “Access to
finance is one of the most pressing needs for small and medium enterprises in Haiti. This
fund, the first of its kind in Haiti, will bring vital private funding to a
growing market of local companies. It is an important contribution to the
development of the country’s economy.”
ABOUT LEOPARD CAPITAL
Leopard Capital L.P. is an investment manager
specializing in frontier markets. The
Group was founded in 2007 by Douglas Clayton as an independent partnership of
senior investment professionals. In 2008
Leopard Capital launched Leopard Cambodia Fund as Cambodia’s first private
equity fund. This Fund has since made 12 investments and achieved three
exits. Sectors invested include banking,
microfinance, hydropower, electricity transmission, telecommunications,
beverage production, and seafood processing.
In 2012 Leopard Capital launched Leopard Asia Frontier Fund to invest in
listed securities in 12 low income Asian countries. Leopard Haiti Fund is now the Group’s third
fund. Leopard Capital LP is domiciled in the
Cayman Islands and has presences in Hong Kong, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Bangladesh, and Haiti. Leopard Capital
(Hong Kong) Ltd. is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities & Futures
Commission for asset management and securities advisory services. For more information, visit www.leopardcapital.com.
ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCE
CORPORATION (IFC)
IFC, a member of the World Bank group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector
in developing countries. We create opportunity for people to escape poverty and
improve their lives. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by
financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and
governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In
fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, we helped our clients
create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their
local communities—all while driving our investments to an all-time high of
nearly $19 billion. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
ABOUT THE NETHERLANDS
DEVELOPMENT FINANCE COMPANY (FMO)
FMO
is the bilateral private sector development bank of the Netherlands. It invests
in the private sector, which can serve as an engine of sustainable growth in
developing markets. To this end, it provides capital, knowledge and
partnerships to ambitious entrepreneurs. With an investment portfolio of € 5.9
billion, FMO is one of the largest bilateral private sector development banks
worldwide. Its focus is on three sectors which create a high development
impact: financial institutions, energy and agribusiness, food & water. This
focus enables FMO to offer tailor-made finance solutions, based on real
expertise. In other sectors, it teams up with renowned partners to combine
local networks, knowledge and experience.
FMO believes that its approach will lead to lasting economic and social
development, which will empower people to employ their skills and improve their
quality of life. For more information,
visit www.fmo.nl.
ABOUT MULTILATERAL
INVESTMENT FUND AND INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
Established in 1993 as a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) Group, the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) supports private sector-led development benefitting low-income populations and the poor - their businesses, their farms, and their households. Its mission is to act as a development laboratory - experimenting, pioneering, and taking risks in order to build and support successful micro and small and medium enterprise business models. The MIF works through grants, lending, and equity investments and is the largest international technical assistance provider to the private sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. For more information, visit www.fomin.org.
CONTACTS:
Thierry Bungener, Managing Partner, Leopard Capital Haiti Ltd., Port-au-Prince, Haiti tb@leopardcapital.com
Established in 1993 as a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) Group, the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) supports private sector-led development benefitting low-income populations and the poor - their businesses, their farms, and their households. Its mission is to act as a development laboratory - experimenting, pioneering, and taking risks in order to build and support successful micro and small and medium enterprise business models. The MIF works through grants, lending, and equity investments and is the largest international technical assistance provider to the private sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. For more information, visit www.fomin.org.
CONTACTS:
Thierry Bungener, Managing Partner, Leopard Capital Haiti Ltd., Port-au-Prince, Haiti tb@leopardcapital.com
Leopard Capital LP: Douglas
Clayton, Chief Executive Officer, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Paul Hartogsveld, Communications Officer, FMO, The Hague, The Netherlands
Email: p.hartogsveld@fmo.nl
George Neumann, Knowledge and Strategic Communications, MIF, Washington, DC, USA,
Email: georgn@iadb.org
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