London-based private investment firm Helios Investment Partners is doubling down on North African digital infrastructure, announcing the creation of a new platform in Morocco just weeks after securing a preliminary deal for a major data centre asset in Egypt.
The firm, which focuses exclusively on Africa, has partnered with Fipar-Holding — a subsidiary of Morocco’s state-owned CDG Invest — to launch 3MDC. The new entity is a “rollup” that merges three existing Moroccan technology companies: Maroc Datacenter (MDC), a carrier-neutral Tier III facility; Munisys, a system integrator; and Medasys, a cybersecurity and digital services firm.
The move underscores a growing trend of private capital flowing into African digital sovereignty and infrastructure resilience, a sector that has faced harsh scrutiny recently following systemic failures in the region.
The Deal Structure
3MDC is designed to operate as a fully integrated hybrid-cloud platform targeting both enterprise and public sector clients in Morocco and Southern Europe.
The ownership structure reflects a significant bet on local adoption with international backing:
- Helios IV (the investment fund) will hold 44%.
- Fipar-Holding will hold 40%.
- Founders and Management of the three merged entities will retain 16%.
While financial terms of the Moroccan merger were not disclosed, the strategic intent is clear: to bundle infrastructure (the physical data centre) with services (cloud, security, and integration) to offer an end-to-end “sovereign” solution.
“The combination of Maroc Datacenter, Munisys and Medasys creates a unique Moroccan platform with the scale and expertise to enable secure, sovereign and sustainable digital growth,” said Babatunde Soyoye, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Helios.
A Regional “Buying Spree”
The formation of 3MDC is not an isolated event. It follows closely on the heels of Helios’s aggressive move into the Egyptian market in September.
Telecom Egypt’s board gave preliminary approval earlier this autumn to sell a 75–80% stake in its data centre subsidiary to Helios, after a major fire incident at the Ramses Central telecommunications building, a critical national hub that caused massive internet, banking, and communication disruptions across Egypt, killing four people and injuring dozens, exposing vulnerabilities in the country’s digital infrastructure. That deal values the unit — which houses the Regional Data Hub (RDH) — at up to $260m, contingent on a $30m earn-out based on performance indicators.
The RDH assets include a 2.5 MW facility that reached full capacity within a year of its 2021 launch, and a second 4.6 MW phase currently under development.
From Legacy to Sovereignty
The thesis driving the 3MDC platform in Morocco mirrors that in Egypt, but adds a layer of “digital sovereignty” — the ability for nations to host critical data within their own borders rather than relying on hyperscalers in Europe or the US.
Khalid Ziane, General Manager of Fipar, noted that the partnership is intended to “strengthen Morocco’s technological foundations” and support a “resilient and inclusive digital ecosystem.”
By combining MDC’s physical hosting capabilities with the service layers provided by Munisys and Medasys, the new entity aims to capture the entire value chain of local IT spending, preventing capital flight to foreign cloud providers.
Established in 2004, Helios Investment Partners is the largest Africa-focused private investment firm. It manages funds that invest in startups and established corporations alike. It is notably the first mainstream private equity firm in Africa to receive B Corp certification.
Fipar-Holding: The investment arm of CDG Group, a proactive minority investor focused on large-scale Moroccan development projects.
The 3MDC Companies:
- Maroc Datacenter (MDC): Provides colocation and cloud services; holds Tier III certification.
- Munisys: A 30-year-old integrator with 300 staff, focusing on hybrid infrastructure.
- Medasys: Specialises in IT architecture and systems integration for the public sector.
Next Steps
The deal remains subject to customary closing conditions. If successful, 3MDC will attempt to position itself as the primary challenger to international providers in the Francophone African market, while Helios wraps up due diligence on its $260m acquisition in Cairo.