Woodford's Zimbabwe investment raises $50m

Zimbabwean investment company Masawara, which is backed by Neil Woodford in the £18.6bn Invesco Perpetual income funds, has raised $50m towards its capital target since IPO last year.

Woodford invested $25m in AIM-listed Masawara, taking a 29.5% stake in the business, as reported in Investment Week last year. Zimbabwean newspaper The Herald reports this was followed up with $23m capital raising from a placement of its shares, a significant proportion of the $80m of capital it had initially aimed to raise. Masawara will use the capital to acquire assets in Zimbabwe identified by chief executive Shingai Mutasa in the agriculture, mining, real estate and telecommunications industries. The company has so far acquired a 100% shareholding in Zuva Petroleum One, former...