Catalyst Principal Partners, a Kenyan private equity firm, has raised $155 million in its second round of funding, securing capital from local pension funds and international investors, it said on Friday.

Private equity is still a relatively new financial vehicle on Africa’s landscape but firms such as Catalyst are helping to grow its appeal to institutions looking for exposure to fast-growing economies on the continent.

Catalyst, which focuses on investments in East Africa, launched nearly a decade ago with $125 million which it invested in nine companies in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

The fresh capital will target $7.5 million-$22.5 million range of investments, aimed at companies in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Catalyst said in a statement.

"Catalyst largely focuses on emerging and mid-sized companies with strong growth and profitability prospects,” said Paul Kavuma, the chief executive of Catalyst.

He founded the Mauritius-registered Catalyst in 2009 after working for Actis in Kenya and Britain for several years.

The firm has invested in businesses in the manufacture of consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, industrial agro-processing, logistics and engineering as well as healthcare, technology and financial services, it said.

It typically invests over a four to six-year period by acquiring shareholdings "targeting businesses in need of expansion and replacement capital, recapitalisations and pre-IPO investments.”

Agencies