West Africa’s most important mergers and acquisitions, together with the monetary and authorized advisers behind them, have been recognised within the just lately launched 2024 DealMakers AFRICA Annual Awards. The awards spotlight transactions which have formed the area’s company panorama, acknowledging the companies and people driving advanced offers throughout industries.
The DealMakers AFRICA awards are decided primarily by goal standards, assessing the worth and variety of transactions recorded. Nonetheless, three classes—Deal of the Yr, Non-public Fairness Deal of the Yr, and Particular person DealMaker of the Yr—are chosen primarily based on nominations from advisory companies. These are evaluated primarily based on components reminiscent of deal complexity, transformational impression, and potential worth creation.
Within the West Africa Deal of the Yr class, 4 main transactions have been shortlisted. These included Olam Agri’s acquisition of Avisen, Chappal Energies’ buy of Equinor’s Nigerian enterprise, Renaissance Africa Power’s acquisition of Shell Petroleum Growth Firm of Nigeria, and the acquisition of Flour Mills by Excelsior Delivery.
The profitable deal on this class was the acquisition of Shell Petroleum Growth Firm by Renaissance Africa Power, a transaction that aligns with Nigeria’s broader goal of accelerating native participation within the vitality sector.
The deal noticed possession of important onshore property consolidated below a consortium of Nigerian corporations, reinforcing native gamers’ roles within the trade. PwC Nigeria, Banwo & Ighodalo, Clifford Probability, White & Case, and G. Elias served as advisers on the transaction.
For the Non-public Fairness Deal of the Yr, three offers have been in rivalry, together with CardinalStone Companions’ exit from i-Health to Verod, Verod and its companions’ funding in Moniepoint, and Adenia Companions’ sale of Cresta Paints to Uhuru Funding Companions.
The award was given to CardinalStone Companions for its exit from i-Health to Verod, a deal anticipated to drive i-Health’ subsequent progress section by way of Verod’s operational experience and monetary backing. The transaction was facilitated by Rand Service provider Financial institution Nigeria, CardinalStone Capital Companions, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, and Olaniwun Ajayi.
The Particular person DealMaker of the Yr award, sponsored for the second consecutive 12 months by PSG Capital, recognised 5 shortlisted professionals: Akinola Akinboboye of Deloitte, Ayotunde Owoigbe of Banwo & Ighodalo, Azeezah Muse-Sadiq of Banwo & Ighodalo, Daniel Adeoye of Verod, and Yewande Senbore of Olaniwun Ajayi. The award went to Daniel Adeoye, a associate at Verod, for his position in executing high-value transactions within the area.
Adenia Companions’ acquisition of Air Liquide subsidiaries throughout Africa was recognised with the DealMakers AFRICA Particular Recognition award. The deal spanned 12 nations throughout three areas, with Adenia committing as much as €30 million over the following 5 years to strengthen and broaden the newly shaped entity, Erium. The transaction was suggested by Decrop Consulting, Asafo & Co, Fidal Avocats, Deloitte, DPGS & Alliance Companions, and ClassM.
The awards additionally acknowledged the top-performing monetary and authorized advisory companies in West Africa’s mergers and acquisitions panorama. PwC emerged because the main monetary adviser by deal worth, adopted by Rand Service provider Financial institution Nigeria, Citigroup World Markets, and Treadstone Useful resource Companions. Rand Service provider Financial institution Nigeria and Stanbic IBTC Capital shared the highest spot for monetary advisory by deal exercise.
Banwo & Ighodalo was named the highest authorized adviser by deal worth, forward of Clifford Probability, G. Elias, and White & Case. By way of deal stream, Banwo & Ighodalo secured the highest place, adopted by Olaniwun Ajayi and Herbert Smith Freehills.
For fairness transactions, Stanbic IBTC Capital was ranked the highest monetary adviser by transaction worth, whereas Templars led as the highest authorized adviser in the identical class. In debt transactions, Afreximbank ranked highest by worth, whereas Olaniwun Ajayi led in authorized advisory.
DealMakers AFRICA, which launched its awards in 2000 in South Africa and expanded to the remainder of the continent in 2008, continues to focus on key transactions that form African economies. The newest rankings mirror the rising sophistication of West Africa’s mergers and acquisitions panorama, as native and worldwide companies navigate advanced offers which might be reshaping industries throughout the area.
