AAMAF - Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Ltd.

[accutronman]

For those of you interested in frontier market investing and especially sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa, take a look at Atlas Mara (AAMAF:OTC or ATMA.L: LSE). Presently a shell company (investment vehicle), it IPO'd with $325M to invest in banking in that region.

 

The major thing going for this is that Bob Diamond, former CEO of Barclays and Ashish Thakkar who started the Mara Group in Africa are co-founders of Atlas Mara. With Thakkar's connections in the country and Diamond trying to redeem his reputation after the LIBOR manipulation fiasco, both men are motivated to make this work well.

 

I invested right after the IPO and plan on holding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[matts]

For those of you interested in frontier market investing and especially sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa, take a look at Atlas Mara (AAMAF:OTC or ATMA.L: LSE). Presently a shell company (investment vehicle), it IPO'd with $325M to invest in banking in that region.

 

The major thing going for this is that Bob Diamond, former CEO of Barclays and Ashish Thakkar who started the Mara Group in Africa are co-founders of Atlas Mara. With Thakkar's connections in the country and Diamond trying to redeem his reputation after the LIBOR manipulation fiasco, both men are motivated to make this work well.

 

I invested right after the IPO and plan on holding.

 

Interesting. What's your estimate of how much cash per ordinary share is available now after all the ipo fees ect have been baked in?

[accutronman]

The first of many deals...

 

Robert Diamond’s Atlas Mara Co-Nvest Ltd. (ATMA) agreed to buy ABC Holdings Ltd. and ADC African Development Corp. for as much as $265 million in the first acquisition by the investment firm of the former Barclays Plc (BARC) head.

 

BancABC offers financial services in Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Atlas Mara, which trades in London, said in a statement late yesterday. ADC, which trades in Frankfurt, owns 47.1 percent of BancABC and 9.1 percent of Union Bank of Nigeria, the company said.

 

“We looked extensively at where the best opportunities would be in Africa and we had our sights on a high-quality, multi-country bank in one of the regions of Africa,” Diamond told reporters today in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. “We are not passive investors and we want to truly add value.”

[accutronman]

The investment company Atlas Mara Co-Nvest, backed by a former

Barclays chief executive, Robert E. Diamond Jr., has agreed to a second

investment deal in the African financial sector.

 

Rwanda’s government said on Sunday that it had signed a nonbinding

memorandum of understanding with Atlas Mara to privatize the

commercial arm of the state-owned Development Bank of Rwanda.

 

“This partnership is in line with Atlas Mara’s vision, which is building

a leading African financial services group,” Mr. Diamond said in a

statement. “Rwanda is a model economy that will continue to benefit from

the engagement of the private sector.”

 

Atlas Mara views the investment as an opportunity to create a

privately run financial services group in Rwanda, which will help the firm

expand into the East Africa market.

 

The deal comes less than a week after Atlas Mara announced its first

purchase in Africa.

 

[Spekulatius]

The stock ATMA.L tanked due to concerns over the health of the Nigerian banking sector apparently. It seems to be trading way below book value, but of course the shares of their holdings and the currencies have dropped as well. An interesting story to follow, but I don't know enough to make a informed investment decision.

Anyone follows this train wreck closely?

[kab60]

Unfortunately nothing to add expect that this is one of the things that makes investing interesting; learning about an African Banking roll-up. Thanks for bringing it up again, I'll have a look.

Anyone know hos much insiders own? This part from the AR piqued my interest;

 

Finally,  while  our  share  price  performance over 2015 has been broadly in-line with African peers (when looked at in US dollar terms),  we  recognise  shareholder frustrations,  I  would  highlight  the fundamental  importance  to  me  of  ensuring that  the  senior  management  team’s (including my) interests are aligned with our  investors’.  Not  only  has  the  senior management team continued to purchase Atlas Mara ordinary shares for its own account over the past year, but, in terms of  annual  remuneration,  in  collaboration and  consultation  with  the  Remuneration Committee and the broader Board, the proportion  of  share-based  compensation has  increased  and  the  cash  proportion has  decreased.  Additionally,  it  is  important to note that a significant portion of the aggregate investment in Atlas Mara by the senior  management  team,  including  me, when we joined was undertaken at share prices  at  or  close  to  the  original  IPO  price.