DealMakers AFRICA Annual Awards results 2024 (West Africa)

West Africa’s notable company mergers and acquisitions and their advisers have been recognised by DealMakers AFRICA in the release of the 2024 Annual Awards.

The DealMakers AFRICA awards are based essentially on objective evidence – the value of deals or transactions and the number of them. In only three of the awards is selection subjective and these are approached with considerable circumspection; they are the Deal of the Year, the Private Equity Deal of the Year and the Individual DealMaker of the Year. Nominations are received from the advisory firms for these subjective awards – the DealMakers AFRICA’s team produces a shortlist and an eventual winner is decided on, guided by the following criteria: transformational elements, execution complexity, deal size and potential value creation. For the Individual DealMaker the deals worked on, the contribution made, the execution complexity and peer recognition are considered.

In the West Africa Deal of the Year category, DealMakers AFRICA shortlisted four deals. These were: the acquisition by Olam Agri of Avisen, Chappal Energies’ acquisition of Equinor’s Nigerian business, the acquisition by Renaissance Africa Energy of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria and, the acquisition of Flour Mills by Excelsior Shipping.

The winner of the West Africa Deal of the Year was the acquisition by Renaissance Africa Energy of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria.  The transaction underscores Nigeria’s focus on increasing local ownership in its energy sector by placing ownership of these onshore assets under the control of a group of Nigerian companies, consolidating the consortium’s role as a major player in the market. Advisers to the winning transaction were PwC Nigeria, Banwo & Ighodalo, Clifford Chance, White & Case and G. Elias.

In the category of Private Equity Deal of the Year (West Africa), DealMakers AFRICA shortlisted three deals. These were: the exit by CardinalStone Partners of i-Fitness to Verod, the investment by Verod and consortium partners into Moniepoint and, Adenia Partners exit of Cresta Paints to Uhuru Investment Partners.

The winning deal for the West African region the exit by CardinalStone Partners of i-Fitness to Verod. Partnering with Verod aligns with i-Fitness’ next phase of expansion, enabling it to leverage Verod’s operational expertise and financial resources to deepen market penetration, enhance its service offerings, and expand across the continent. Advisers to the transaction were Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria, CardinalStone Capital Partners, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie and Olaniwun Ajayi.

For the second year in a row PSG Capital has sponsored the top Individual DealMaker of the Year (West Africa) award. Five top dealmakers were shortlisted and they were: Akinola Akinboboye (Deloitte), Ayotunde Owoigbe (Banwo & Ighodalo), Azeezah Muse-Sadiq (Banwo & Ighodalo), Daniel Adeoye (Verod) and Yewande Senbore (Olaniwun Ajayi).

The PSG Capital Individual DealMaker of the Year (West Africa) has been awarded to Daniel Adeoye, a partner at Verod.

The DealMakers AFRICA Special Recognition award seeks to acknowledge and showcase a deal or transaction for the year under review, the characteristics of which are noteworthy and make a significant contribution to the region or industry. The award is not region specific and in 2024 this went to acquisition by Adenia Partners of Air Liquide subsidiaries across Africa. The deal was significant covering 12 countries, over three regions across the continent.  Adenia intends to strengthen and develop Erium through long-term support and additional investment of up to €30 million over the next five years, position it as an agile leader, closely attuned to the needs of its customers and their regions. Advisers to the transaction were Decrop Consulting, Asafo & Co, Fidal Avocats, Deloitte, DPGS & Alliance Partners and ClassM.

The following awards have been made to the top financial and legal advisers to the West African mergers and acquisition industry:

Mergers & Acquisitions

 

Financial Adviser by deal value

1st PwC

2nd Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria

3rd   tie Citigroup Global Markets, Treadstone Resource Partners

Financial Adviser by deal activity

1st tie Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC Capital

3rd  tie Evercore, Absa CIB

Legal Adviser by deal value

1st Banwo & Ighodalo

2nd Clifford Chance

3rd tie G.Elias, White & Case

 

Legal Adviser by deal flow

1st Banwo & Ighodalo

2nd Olaniwun Ajayi

3rd Herbert Smith Freehills

 

General Corporate Finance – Equity Transactions

 

Financial Adviser by transaction value

1st Stanbic IBTC Capital

2nd Chapel Hill Denham Advisory

3rd Vetiva Advisory Services

Financial Adviser by transaction activity

1st Stanbic IBTC Capital

2nd tie Chapel Hill Denham Advisory, Vitiva Advisory Services

 

Legal Adviser by transaction value

1st Templars

2nd Banwo & Ighodalo

3rd  Olaniwun Ajayi

 

Legal Adviser by transaction flow

1st Banwo & Ighodalo

2nd Olaniwun Ajayi

3rd Templars

 

General Corporate Finance – Debt Transactions

Financial Adviser by transaction value

1st Afreximbank

2nd multiple advisors

 

Financial Adviser by transaction activity

1st tie Quantum Zenith Capital, Cordros Capital

3rd tie FCMB Capital Markets, Stanbic IBTC Capital

 

Legal Adviser by transaction value

1st Olaniwun Ajayi

2nd White & Case

3rd Banwo & Ighodalo

 

Legal Adviser by transaction flow

1st Olaniwun Ajayi

2nd Banwo & Ighodalo

3rd tie Aluko & Oyebode, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie

The DealMakers Awards were launched in 2000 in South Africa and were introduced to the rest of the continent in 2008.