Accelerating Growth

investing in the future of the region and beyond

>$900m

invested incl. $280m of co-investment capital

>30,000

jobs supported through our investments

>$1.2bn

returned capital
from 12 realizations

2.3x

realized MoC
in USD

>$275m

institutional
co-invest provided

>$125m

largest investor
across our funds

What We Do

We are growth investors who seek to partner with visionary entrepreneurs and management teams to grow differentiated middle-market businesses in North Africa and beyond. We invest on behalf of leading institutional investors long-term patient capital with a focus on sustainable job creation and opening the consumption choices of low to middle income consumers to more inclusive growth and higher quality products and services. Over the last decade we have consistently delivered outsized returns, not by leverage or financial engineering, but by the growth and success of our partner companies as we constantly look for situations where we are able to add value in a way that others don’t. We are investing in the future of North Africa and beyond, identifying and supporting the sectors we believe will shape the future and create the jobs of tomorrow.

What We've Built

We have built a leading independent investment manager with unparalleled access to deal flow in our markets garnered through a reputation for delivering success, an established network across our markets and supported by our track record of growth and transformation initiatives. Over the last decade we have led many of the most prominent investments in our markets deploying over $900m, representing over 30 transactions from platform investments to add-on acquisitions, in the consumer, education, healthcare and financial services - all sectors benefitting from strong secular growth trends in our region. Today, we manage institutional funds with over 70 Limited Partners, primarily regional and global institutional investors, including Development Finance Institutions, Pension and Sovereign Wealth Funds. FACT SHEET

Our Value Add

We have amassed over a decade of extensive sector experience across over 20 investments, enabling us to evolve from generalist investors into specialists with a sector-focused approach, leading to consistent value creation for our clients. Our expertise is centered around identifying outstanding companies with untapped potential, meticulously evaluating catalysts for increased value, while also assessing potential risks through a comprehensive due diligence process. We are committed to enhancing the performance of our portfolio companies by driving operational excellence through a range of growth and transformation initiatives including strategic development, leadership and talent cultivation, brand transformation, data analytics, and supply chain optimization allowing us to unlock the full potential of our investments with a proven, value-driven approach. READ MORE

Strategy

In many cases, the partner companies we back seek help around a wide range of raw strategy issues. This may include competitive assessments, market entry strategies, pricing work, organizational construct issues, compensation questions and scalability challenges amongst others. We work closely with our portfolio companies to provide thoughtful analysis and perspective across a wide range of opportunities. When we formed our various healthcare provider platforms in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt we laid the strategy ground work for creating these countries' largest hospital and care networks through a buy and build executed over several years backing the management teams in each of these markets and supported by a strategic framework developed before the initial investment and refined over time. In our journey to back what became one of the largest insurance providers in Africa, we worked at the board level with management to develop the market entry strategies for over ten countries during our investment period.

Leadership and Talent

We have demonstrated across many investments our strength in improving leadership and organizational effectiveness across the investment lifecycle, including building and growing high-performance management teams and boards, in addition to aligning organizational structure, incentivization and culture with the business strategy. When we started the journey of building the largest independent hospital networks in Egypt and Tunisia, we had to also build management teams and boards in both countries that could help us execute our vision, at a time when independent hospital networks did not exist in either country, private hospitals were owned mainly by doctor shareholders and the sector was not institutionalized. We faced the same challenge when we started the journey to build Egypt's largest private university group, at a time when private universities were owned by local families with little institutionalizing. We always grant ownership stakes in our partner companies to employees to encourage productivity and alignment.

Brand Transformation

We have worked with a number of our partner companies to help them think strategically about their brand and how to leverage this and extend it as part of the value creation journey to ultimately gain a more aligned, integrated, and more valuable company. We helped the founders of Moulin D'Or take a small artisan confectionary brand and scale it to be one of the largest brands in the region in its category by investing in strategic marketing initiatives backed by a solid consumer research foundation. We supported our partner company Lilas in its transformation from a pure paper and diapers company to a diversified fast moving consumer goods platform, leveraging the strength and affinity of the Lilas brand into new adjacent categories with the same target consumer. We work closely with each of our partner companies to evaluate the right size and type of the selling organization for going to market. For example we supported Cleopatra Hospitals Group in their doctor sales team creation and goal setting to ensure operational effectiveness and maximizing the return on their investments in the sales and marketing functions.

Data Analytics

We work with our partner companies to gather and use data as a strategic and operational lever, implementing fit for purpose management information systems and enterprise resource planning tools. In Aziza, our discount retailer partner company, we leveraged customer analytics to design a targeted approach for promotions and marketing to improve return on marketing expenditure and improve customer yield. At our healthcare businesses, we are leveraging historic patient data to help improve outcomes. Our partner company Cleopatra Hospitals Group is working with Novartis on leveraging patient data for the early diagnosis and treatment of patients with atherosclerosis of the heart and blood vessels. At our healthcare diagnostics partner company we worked with external providers on a data cleansing and analytics project to tailor services for chronic patients for early detection and testing reminders.

Supply Chain

We support our partner companies by helping them uncover and deliver step-change improvement in EBITDA and cashflow generation through rigorous analysis and operational process improvement. We ensure that we appoint experienced financial practitioners at the audit committees of our partner companies to ensure support and oversight. In addition, for disciplined program management of transformation initiatives, we regularly set up a project management office at the partner company level which owns the transformation initiatives identified by the leadership team and board and oversees the execution and value delivery - we have supported our partner company Oncologie et Diagnostic du Maroc on its transformation journey by building out the inhouse project management team early on to help deliver the multitude of projects on its value creation path. Leveraging our food retail experience in Egypt, we were able to support MaxAB to extract working capital efficiencies with their suppliers and manufacturers leading to cashflow optimization to fund the company's accelerated growth trajectory.


In our work with our partner companies, we embrace a tribal mindset to foster an atmosphere of unity and collaboration within the combined teams, enabling us to navigate the increasingly competitive industry landscape more effectively, ultimately driving success for all parties involved. 

Our Team

We are a team that is entrepreneurial, passionate about our work, and is working for the long-term.  We have worked together for over a decade across multiple funds with a unique track record in our sectors and a strong focus on sustainable investing. Our ability to forge strong relationships with entrepreneurs, founders of companies and family offices has proved an invaluable resource in terms of broadening our network and deepening our expertise within our markets and sectors. We believe that extraordinary results come from partnering with entrepreneurs who share our values of integrity, hard work, conviction, and a deep desire to win.  

Investing in the future of North Africa and beyond

We have been investing in the region's future for over a decade. Our investment thesis evolves around the emerging consumer in North Africa, supported by a young and growing population, rapid urbanization, rising incomes and increasing digitalization. This is resulting in a structural increase in consumption that is expected across both the consumer staples and consumer discretionary sectors, with industries such as education services, financial services, household products, packaged foods, and healthcare expected to benefit disproportionately given the demographics of the region. READ MORE

Investing in the industries of the future, backing growth sectors that we believe will shape North Africa's future economy. 
Investing in the companies of the future, helping North Africa's founders scale up to become the market leaders of tomorrow. 
Investing in the jobs of the future, supporting companies across North Africa that can create the high skill and sustainable jobs of the future. 
Investing in a sustainable future, supporting companies across North Africa with a sustainability agenda to grow to deliver value for our investors.

Latest News

2023

Ex-Abraaj team takes another tilt at launching new fund - Private Equity International

RMBV is making a further attempt at raising a new private equity fund aiming to reach a first closing end of 2023  ...

EBRD to invest in RMBV’s USD 300 mn North Africa fund

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will invest USD 60 mn in RMBV's third North African fund ...

2022

Events: RMBV presents at the SuperReturn Africa conference in Cape Town

RMBV presented the North Africa investment opportunity at the SuperReturn Africa conference

RMBV returns over $200m to investors from exits and distributions in 2022, well above 2021 levels of $55m

Despite a challenging macro-economic backdrop, RMBV have continued the relentless focus on driving liquidity events with good returns to investors. In 2022, RMBV have distributed over $200m to investors through exits on local equity markets and secondary transactions, well above 2021 levels of $55m ...

Events: RMBV presents at the Sango Capital LP conference in Cairo

RMBV presented the consumer opportunity in Egypt and North Africa at the Sango Capital Cairo conference

Events: RMBV presents at the South Suez Capital Africa conference

RMBV presented the consumer opportunity in Egypt and North Africa at the South Suez Capital Cairo conference

RMBV's partner company MaxAB nabs $40m - TechCrunch

To continue growth due to the rising demand for food and groceries and fuel its expansion across the MENAP region, MaxAB has raised more money, this time a pre-Series B to the tune of $40 million

RMBV backed JM Holding increases it shareholding in Lilas - ilboursa 

JM Holding acquires 201,217 shares in SAH (Lilas) in September 2022 ...

RMBV closes its c. $150m RCare continuation fund investment in Care Healthcare - Filing 

RMBV managed fund, RCare, completes its Care Healthcare Ltd (Malta) landmark continuation investment, making this one of the largest private equity investments in Egypt since 2018. Care owns 464,000,000 shares representing 29% of the shares of Cleopatra Hospitals S.A.E, listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (CLHO.CA). RCare is controlled by Ahmed Badreldin, the Managing Partner of RMBV and current chairman of Cleopatra Hospitals Group through its General Partner, RCare GP ...

     prior years

2021

RMBV sells 23% of its investment in Cleopatra Hospitals Group (CHG) to MCI Capital - Enterprise

MCI Capital Healthcare Partners, a subsidiary of Banque Misr's CI Capital, has acquired around 23%, or 367.8 mn shares, of Cleopatra Hospitals Group (CHG) ...

Thndr Claps with WAYA ft, Ahmed Badreldin, Top Impact Investor - Waya

This article is the first of three introducing Ahmed Badreldin and his main portfolio companies.  ...

RMBV leads the $55m Series A round in MaxAB, North Africa's leading B2B e-commerce business - Techcabal

MaxAB, an Egyptian eCommerce platform that serves food and grocery retailers, has raised an additional $15M from existing investors bringing its total Series A funding to $55M, the largest ever by an Egyptian startup

RMBV's Taaleem's IPO oversubscribed by 29.38 times - Mubasher

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) announced that the initial public offering of (IPO) of Taaleem Management Services has been oversubscribed by 29.38 times. Investors have placed orders for 525.616 million shares at a value of EGP 5.75 …


2020

RMBV to launch USD 300 mn North Africa fund - Enterprise

RMBV about to hit the road to raise a USD 300 mn fund that will target North Africa,  ...

Ex-Abraaj veteran doubles capital on North Africa fund exits - PE News

Ahmed Badreldin, who decided to leave the Dubai-based firm in 2018, made seven exits from the fund since then ...


2019

Care Healthcare divests 31.5% stake in Cleopatra Hospitals - Enterprise

Care Healthcare sold a 31.5% stake in Cleopatra Hospital Group on Wednesday, Cleopatra said in a bourse filing on Thursday. Care Healthcare, which prior to the transaction held a commanding 69.4% stake in Cleopatra, sold 503 mn shares at EGP 5.2 a share in a transaction worth EGP 2.6 bn — bringing Care’s ownership stake in Cleopatra down to 37.9% ...

Abraaj’s North Africa Fund Wants to Split From Parent - WSJ

The North Africa deal team is asking liquidators of Abraaj, the Dubai-based private-equity firm that started liquidation proceedings in June, to consider “an amicable separation” of the unit from the rest of the firm, a document sent to some investors said ...


2018

How to mitigate against GP 'sharp practice'

Ahmed Badreldin, former head of MENA for The Abraaj Group, writes for PEI about his thoughts for LPs on fund due diligence lessons and investor  ...