Genser’s €456m funding package goes beyond a shareholder buyout
ACCRA — Genser Energy has bought back Oppenheimer Partners’ entire 40.4% shareholding, ending a five year investment as the energy company pursues expansion in West Africa. A €456 million financing package from three South African banks supports both the shareholder exit and further investment in power and gas infrastructure.
Genser announced the redemption on 30 July, identifying the departing shareholder as OP Energy Holdings Limited, known as Oppenheimer Partners. The investor entered as a preferred shareholder in 2021 before becoming a common shareholder in 2023. Genser has not disclosed the buyback price or the financial return earned by Oppenheimer Partners.
The funding arrangements provide a clearer picture of how the ownership change fits into Genser’s investment plans. In a statement dated 31 August, law firm DLA Piper confirmed that Rand Merchant Bank, Standard Bank and Absa had provided €456 million in syndicated facilities. The firm, which advised the lenders, said the money would help finance infrastructure projects and facilitate Oppenheimer Partners’ departure. The package covers several purposes and does not establish the value of the redeemed stake.
The projects include converting existing gas turbine plants to more efficient combined cycle systems, completing a gas processing plant at Prestea in Ghana and developing a proposed 470MW power project in Côte d’Ivoire. These investments place the transaction within a broader effort to expand electricity supply and gas infrastructure serving West African markets.
For industrial customers, the significance lies in the infrastructure that remains behind the departing investor. RMB says Genser supplies major mining operations in Ghana and supports electricity exports into Côte d’Ivoire. The bank described its financing role as supporting continued investment while helping the company establish a capital and ownership structure suited to its next stage of growth.
RMB acted as lead arranger, lender and financial adviser, working with management before the wider lender group was assembled. According to the bank, the transaction required balancing the shareholder exit against the company’s ongoing funding needs and expansion plans. That makes the ability to finance new assets alongside the buyback central to the deal’s commercial rationale.
Founded in 2006, Genser says it has more than 310MW of installed generation capacity and operates a 436km private natural gas pipeline network in Ghana. Founder and chief executive Baafour Asiamah Adjei described the transaction as a milestone for the business. In the same announcement, Jonathan Oppenheimer said the investment firm remained committed to deploying capital elsewhere across Africa.
The immediate ownership transaction is complete, but the infrastructure programme still requires delivery. Completion of the Prestea plant, upgrades to existing generation assets and progress on the Côte d’Ivoire project will determine how much additional operating capacity emerges from the financing package. The announcements reviewed do not provide a consolidated timetable for completing those investments.
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