From advising international investors to structuring innovative financing solutions for SMEs to proposing a diversified range of UCITS’ to institutions and individuals, Red Med Capital is fully playing its role as an integrated investment bank by giving tailored high-added value services to its clients.
Red Med Capital is an independent integrated investment bank that specializes in corporate finance, asset management, private equity, and brokerage. Created in 2004, Red Med Corporate Finance, the first arm of the group, has been involved in many M&A large transactions which led the corporate bank to work in various sectors, such as telecom, education, renewable energies, and agroindustry.
The second subsidiary, founded in 2011, is Red Med Asset Management which has more than €1 billion under management and a large client portfolio that includes funds, insurance banks, and large corporations whose investments perform above the market trends.
In 2020, the group strengthened its range of activities and answered a critical need for SMEs by founding Red Med Private Equity. The PE management company has a clear investment strategy which is to support national SMEs involved in industries driven by local consumption, characterized by a chronic under-capitalization that aggravated during the COVID-19 crisis, through investment tickets mainly between 30 and 90 million dirhams. The idea is to contribute to the “Made In Morocco” while promoting the emergence of national champions not only by injecting equity or quasi-equity but also by providing full support to the management in order to strengthen governance and comply with international operational and CSR standards. Abdeslam Ababou, Founder of Red Med Private Equity, says, “The investment thesis is very simple. It involves investing in companies that are addressing local demand. For example, there is a fast-growing local demand in the agro-industry, education, and health care since products and services are imported or not provided with the required quality and quantity. The idea is to invest in those SMEs to help them speed up their development and have goods and services that can address the needs of the local community.”
The last born is Red Med Securities with the view to be a player in the stock market, which needs today to recover from the COVID-19 effect by increasing transaction volumes through IPOs and equity and debt capital market transactions. Ababou says, “We propose all the business of an investment bank and advisory services, what we call ECM/DCM. We are complementary to the services of Moroccan banks.”
The company has a flagship industry in which it has been involved since the implementation of the new Moroccan energy strategy in 2009, highlighting the place of renewable energies to reach 52% of renewable energies in the energy mix. Ababou explains, “Morocco has all the assets to be one of the first players in a renewable generation but also in green hydrogen and ammonia generation due to its reactive framework and the availability of land with first-class resources, wind and solar, combined with low intermittence.” Morocco has an outstanding future ahead; the International Energy Agency announced that Morocco could provide around 4% of the hydrogen needed by 2030, estimated at 200 million tons. “Morocco was not competitive on electricity tariffs because we were almost completely dependent on fossil resources and were importing electricity,” explains Ababou. “Morocco’s renewable energy strategy has started to pay off and Morocco has become a net exporter of electricity and that was an indicator of change. Now, green electricity will most likely be produced at the lowest cost in the world, bringing huge competitiveness to the industry and its derived products.” Morocco is ripe with investor potential thanks to its liberal culture, open economy, logistics with first-class ports, and investment opportunities for green energy and Power to X. Ababou states, “There is a new geopolitical context because of what is happening in Ukraine today, Europe must speed up its autonomy in industrial products, agricultural products, and energy. Because of Morocco’s proximity to Europe, there is a clear opportunity for Europe and Morocco to secure a deal for green energy and product supplies.” Red Med Capital has developed valuable expertise to align different stakeholders and produce the most competitive green electricity, lending to enormous investment potential. Ababou confirms, “I think this is a path that can be developed and Red Med Capital can contribute to transforming opportunities in concrete projects.”