Helios Fairfax Partners

What Helios Fairfax Partners does

Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation is a Toronto-listed (TSX) investment holding company created in 2020 through a transaction between Helios Holdings Limited and Fairfax Africa Holdings Corporation. It functions as a publicly traded vehicle for investing across African markets, advised by Helios Investment Partners LLP, and operates four distinct strategies: Helios Private Equity, Helios Climate, Helios Digital Ventures, and the Helios Sports & Entertainment Group. The firm invests in public and private equity securities and debt instruments across more than 35 African countries, with a focus on core economic sectors, climate adaptation/mitigation, fintech and digital infrastructure, and sports and entertainment assets.

The company serves a global institutional LP base including sovereign wealth funds, corporate and public pension funds, endowments and foundations, family offices, and development finance institutions across the US, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Distribution is executed through a dedicated investor relations team and direct institutional relationships; Helios reports over $3 billion in cumulative capital raised and 20 years of operating track record. Underlying capabilities are delivered through a 40+ person predominantly African team with offices in London, Lagos, Nairobi, Paris, and Luxembourg.

HFP generates revenue from two primary streams: recurring management fees on assets under management ($5.9 million in Q1 2026 from the newly consolidated Helios asset management business) and investment income from portfolio fair value gains ($13.1 million in Q1 2026). The firm holds B Corp certification as the largest emerging-markets-focused PE firm globally, and in early 2026 expanded its investment firepower with an upsized $85 million FirstRand revolving credit facility and announced a $297 million consortium acquisition of CAB Payments Holdings plc. Recent financial performance shows record FY2025 net earnings of $40.5 million and Q1 2026 net profit of $6.3 million, with total assets reaching $570.6 million by March 31, 2026.

Name

Helios Fairfax Partners

Legal name

Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation

Website

https://heliosinvestment.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation is a TSX-listed investment holding company, created in 2020, that invests across African markets through four strategies (Private Equity, Climate, Digital Ventures, and Sports & Entertainment) for global institutional LPs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Africa-Focused Alternative Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523)

SIC

Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro primary industry

Geography-Focused Venture Capital (Regional/Emerging Markets) (FSANAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Multi-Sector / Generalist Growth Equity (FSANACAO)

Keywords

• Africa private equity
• Alternative investment management
• Pan-Africa venture capital
• Institutional investment management
• Emerging markets investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Management Fees: Management fees from investment management activities, including $5.9 million in Q1 2026 from the newly consolidated Helios asset management business
2. Investment Income: Returns from portfolio investments including fair value gains; Q1 2026 included $13.1 million in investment income driven by fair value gains

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Helios Fairfax Partners is a publicly-listed pan-Africa-focused alternative investment manager that invests in public and private equity securities and debt instruments across African markets. The firm operates through four distinct investment strategies — Helios Private Equity, Helios Climate, Helios Digital Ventures, and Helios Sports & Entertainment Group — deploying capital from global institutional investors into African businesses. Investment management is advised by Helios Investment Partners LLP, with the firm generating returns through portfolio investments, fair value gains, and management fees from limited partners.

Product overview

Helios Fairfax Partners is an investment holding corporation focused on African markets, primarily operating as a private equity and venture capital investor rather than a product company. The firm does not offer a unified product platform with modules. Its investment activities span multiple strategies managed by its advisor Helios Investment Partners LLP, including Helios Private Equity, Helios Climate, Helios Digital Ventures, and the Helios Sports & Entertainment Group. The company generates returns through equity and debt investments in African businesses across sectors including fintech, digital infrastructure, consumer non-discretionary, clean energy, and sports entertainment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Helios Private Equity

Quantifiable outcome

• Portfolio investments of $429.8 million as of March 2026
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CAB Payments Holdings plccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 March 2026Helios Fairfax Partners, as part of the Helios Consortium, made a cash offer to acquire CAB Payments Holdings plc at USD $1.15 per share, valuing the company at approximately USD $297 million on a fully diluted basis. HFP's maximum equity commitment is capped at USD $75 million, funded through a bridge facility with FirstRand Bank.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Phatisa: Phatisa is a pan-African private equity fund manager with multi-sector strategies across food, retail, and infrastructure, competing for the same mid-market deals and LPs as Helios.
• Development Partners International (DPI): DPI is an Africa-focused private equity manager raising multi-billion-dollar funds from sovereign and institutional LPs, with strategies that overlap directly with Helios' Pan-African PE approach.
• Actis: Actis is a global emerging-markets private equity firm with a long-standing African franchise across PE and infrastructure strategies, making it the closest direct comparable to Helios Fairfax Partners in mandate, scale, and LP base.
• Emerging Capital Partners (ECP): ECP is one of the earliest Africa-focused PE firms, investing across the continent via funds of comparable size and vintage to Helios, often serving similar institutional LP channels.
• African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM): AIIM is a leading Africa-focused infrastructure and private equity manager that overlaps with Helios' infrastructure-adjacent strategies and shared institutional LP base.

Broad incumbents

• Carlyle Group: Carlyle is a global alternative asset manager with dedicated Sub-Saharan Africa exposure and substantially larger AUM, often competing for the same larger-cap African PE transactions.
• KKR (Africa strategies): KKR is a global alternative asset manager with active emerging markets and select African exposure, positioned as a much broader incumbent that increasingly competes for Africa-focused deals.

Regional players

• Africa Finance Corporation: Africa Finance Corporation is a multilateral infrastructure investor on the continent; while more multilateral in structure, it operates in adjacent capital deployment territory to HFP's infrastructure-style deals.

Emerging players

• Convergence Partners: Convergence Partners is an Africa-focused digital infrastructure investor; its mandate closely tracks Helios Digital Ventures' focus on Africa's tech and digital infrastructure opportunity.
• LeapFrog Investments: LeapFrog is an emerging-markets private equity firm focused on financial services and consumer businesses across Africa and Asia, competing for impact- and growth-oriented capital and similar thematic deals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/helios-fairfax-partners

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Helios Fairfax Partners