The private equity lifecycle in Africa is showing signs of healthy maturity as one of the continent’s most prominent investment firms begins rotating out of its older bets.
Pan-African investment platform AfricInvest has officially launched a structured, phased exit from SIPO Holding, the Mauritius-based parent company controlling Groupe Centaures. The move brings an eight-year investment relationship with the long-established Ivorian logistics and transport operator closer to an end, with a full exit targeted by the end of 2026.
The transaction marks a seamless transition of ownership, executed in tandem with the company’s founding shareholders, the Delsuc family, and anchored by a fresh $16 million capital injection from BluePeak Private Capital.
AfricInvest first backed Groupe Centaures which operates primarily through Les Centaures Routiers (LCR) back in 2018. Deploying €12.2 million ($14.2 million) through its AfricInvest III fund, the firm aimed to transform a traditional, family-owned road freight business into a modernized, integrated logistics powerhouse.
Eight years later, the investment cycle has reached its natural maturity. The exit is being executed in two distinct phases:
• The Catalyst: Centaures recently secured a $16 million structured debt facility from Africa-focused firm BluePeak Private Capital.
• The Liquidity Event: Part of this new capital has been immediately utilized to fund the partial buyout of AfricInvest III, reducing its shareholding in SIPO Holding.
• The Horizon: The remaining stake will be systematically sold back to the founding Delsuc family, completing the full exit by December 2026.
While the exact valuation and financial returns remain undisclosed, the operational metrics achieved during the eight-year holding period paint a clear picture of value creation.
From Trucking to Tech: The Transformation of Centaures
When private equity works well, it rewrites the operational DNA of its portfolio companies. Founded in 1953 by Jean-Jacques Delsuc, Centaures was already a deeply respected name in West African transport. However, AfricInvest’s hands-on governance helped the company scale past its traditional boundaries.
By aggressively lowering the average fleet age to just three years, Centaures significantly optimized its fuel efficiency, cut operating costs, and established a verified greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions baseline. Furthermore, the company expanded from mere transport into high-value-added contract logistics, warehousing, and regional corridors.
AfricInvest’s departure from Centaures is not an isolated event; it is part of a broader, strategic capital recycling effort by the private equity giant as it wraps up older fund lifecycles.
The firm has maintained a highly active exit pipeline over the last several months:
• February 2026: Fully exited Zambia’s Entrepreneurs Financial Centre (EFC Zambia) following its acquisition by NMBZ Holdings.
• June 2025: Exited Ivorian banking heavyweight AFG Holding after helping scale its regional footprint.
• June 2025: Its European affiliate successfully exited French industrial player Mathevon after a similar eight-year tenure.
“This transaction reflects the natural maturity of our investment cycle and the strength of the partnership built with the Delsuc family,” noted Hichem Ghanmi, Senior Partner at AfricInvest.
The Next Horizon for Centaures
With AfricInvest shipping out, Centaures is already eyeing its next growth chapter under the continuing leadership of CEO Olivier Delsuc. Backed by the remaining funds from the BluePeak facility, the company is preparing to break ground on a state-of-the-art logistics hub in Port-Bouët.
The long-term goal remains regional dominance, with advanced plans to deepen its infrastructure and supply chain networks across key West African hinterland markets, including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal. For the broader African tech and business ecosystem, the transaction provides a textbook blueprint of a clean, structured private equity exit that leaves an enterprise stronger than it was found.
