Egyptian billionaire #Sawiris sets up $1.4bn #Gold #Mining Fund

Sawiris looks to open up his La Mancha Gold Investment vehicle to outside investors.  The Luxembourg domiciled fund will hold his 19% stakes in Endeavour Mining (EDV), Australia's Evolution Mining (EVO), African Refractory Gold Miner Golden Star (GSS) and Altus Strategies (ALS), the London based Royalty & Prospect Generator.  The fund will include a cornerstone investment of $100 Million from a currently undisclosed "Strategic Partner".

Egyptian billionaire Sawiris sets up $1.4bn gold mining vehicle

Naguib Sawiris has been one of the biggest investors in the gold mining sector, through his investment vehicle also called La Mancha © Diego Levy/Bloomberg

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has set up a $1.4bn fund to hold his gold mining investments and pursue new opportunities in the sector, which he says is need of consolidation.

The Luxembourg-based La Mancha Fund will be a "deep value, long-only fund" dedicated to gold mining and open to new investors, Sawiris said. The fund will also invest in battery metals needed for electric cars.

…

Sawiris said the fund would take stakes in some of these junior miners and encourage further consolidation through mergers and acquisitions. It will also seek to improve the environmental, social and governance performance of the sector and broaden its appeal.

...

The fund will hold Sawiris' stakes in Endeavour Mining, the largest gold producer in West Africa, as well as Evolution Mining, Golden Star, and Altus Strategies. It also includes a $100m investment from "a strategic partner", who was not named.

The fund will look to buy "significant stakes" in junior mining companies with "strong managerial and geological potential to implement a 3-to-5-year value creation strategy," it said.

It will also look to improve operational efficiency of mining operations and help companies expand through exploration and new mines. It will be supported by an advisory committee made up of mining professionals that will be chaired by Sawiris.

See the whole article on the FT here: https://www.ft.com/content/5cc8e9a5-3c2a-40a0-b795-e526dbb31104

____________________________

bit.ly//PangeaBlog

Andreessen Horowitz @A16z launches Jumbo #Crypto #VC Fund

Andreessen Horowitz's latest $2.2 Billion Crypto Fund III gives it flexibility to do more late-stage VC rounds. The firm previously targeted just $1 billion for the fund, the Financial Times reported in April.

Crypto Fund III is gigantic even by a16z standards. The firm's $3.2 billion late-stage vehicle, which closed last year in conjunction with a $1.3 billion early-stage fund, is the only one to exceed Crypto Fund III in size. Andreessen Horowitz's other crypto funds include a $515 million vehicle closed last year and a $350 million fund from 2018.

A16z's crypto investments exemplify the venture industry's so-called power law, which holds that a small number of investments provide the bulk of returns. Chris Dixon, who has led many of Andreessen Horowitz's crypto investments including Coinbase and Dapper Labs, has called this phenomenon the "Babe Ruth effect."

"The best VCs funds truly do exemplify the Babe Ruth effect: they swing hard, and either hit big or miss big," Dixon wrote in a 2015 blog post. "You can't have grand slams without a lot of strikeouts."

See the whole article on PitchBook here: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/andreessen-horowitz-launches-crypto-arms-race-as-check-sizes-swell

__________________

bit.ly/PangeaBlog

bit.ly/PangeaFeeds 

#Commodities Traders look to #GreenEnergy as they transition away from Hydrocarbons

Marco Dunand of Mercuria said he had long been a 'closet environmentalist'

Mercuria pledges half its investments to energy transition

June 15, 2021

Commodity traders that have reaped huge profits from the oil market in recent years now want to play a role in renewable energy.

Speaking at the FT commodities Summit in Lausanne, all the major traders reinforced their intention to continue to invest in Renewable Energy projects as they shift away from fossil fuels. 

Mercuria co-founder Marco Dunand: "within five years, 50 per cent of all investments are going to be for the energy transition. We have started and have invested well over $500m."

Russell Hardy, chief executive of Vitol, the world's biggest independent oil trader, said it aimed to put half of its investments in renewables and transitional energy, such as gas. The trading house has committed over $1bn in capital for renewable projects.

Torbjörn Törnqvist, Gunvor chair, said it was increasing its investments in power trading, existing renewable technology as well as decarbonisation technologies.

Trafigura last year announced plans to build or buy 2 gigawatts of solar, wind and power storage projects over the next few years through a joint venture with fund manager IFM Investors.

…

"Every time the company invests into say an upstream [oil and gas] asset . . . we are going to have to put the equivalent money into the energy transition," Dunand said. 

Unlike some of its peers, which are primarily focused on physical oil trading, Mercuria has also pushed into financing, offering clients complex services more akin to those offered by investment banks. In 2014 it bought part of JPMorgan's physical commodities trading business to bolster its operations, particularly in power markets. 

Read the whole article on the FT here: Mercuria pledges half its investments to energy transition https://www.ft.com/content/06ea940a-2bfe-487a-8c50-5d8fcd402525

bit.ly/PangeaBlog

#Europe's #Unicorn herd grows almost 3X in 2021 vs 2020, 2X vs. 2019–and we’re not even half way through the year!

PitchBook reports 2021 has seen a record number of European startups achieve unicorn status as the increased participation of US investors pushes up valuations.

23 companies in Europe and Israel have become unicorns so far this year, easily beating 2020's total of eight, according to PitchBook data.

A record amount of VC capital has continued to flow to European startups, with €32.5 billion (around $39.3 billion) invested so far, putting the year on track to surpass last year's €37.6 billion.

The increasing participation of US-based investors has been a factor in the increase of investment. Nearly half of the top 10 backers of European unicorns in terms of deal count are based across the Atlantic.

Europe's tech startups tend to have lower valuations than US counterparts, offering more opportunities for higher growth rates.

"We expect transatlantic capital flows to continue to increase and strengthen valuations in Europe, as cash-rich US investors seek new companies showing strong potential that could be introduced to the US market," said Nalin Patel, a private capital analyst at PitchBook.

See the full article on PitchBook here: Europe's unicorn herd grows bigger and faster in 2021 | PitchBook

The incredible story of #Shein. The online fashion retailer you’ve never heard of

This week it surpassed Amazon as the most downloaded e-commerce app in the US.

Its rise was turbocharged by Trump's Trade War with China and the COVID pandemic.

Shein, China's First Global Fashion Giant
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-14/online-fashion-giant-shein-emerged-from-china-thanks-to-donald-trump-s-trade-war


bit.ly/PangeaBlog