We get many inquiries which we have to turn away. There's no problem with deal flow, but the deals are very often not bankable. SA dearly needs a healthy venture capital market to grow the small and medium sized enterprise sector - but it needs a completely different approach. Today, almost every financial services company is jostling to get a share of the private equity action. And while many of them boast of a venture capital fund, it's at best of symbolic value.
Private equity is where the action is.
Its fashionable status is a direct result of the opening up of SA's economy and the unbundling of unwieldy conglomerates. These created management buyout opportunities, but a shortage of capital by management led them to seek out those with capital. The scope is enormous. Few are listed. By its nature, private equity is long term - investments are three to five years, sometimes longer.