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.
