Financial sponsor advisory
We advise private equity funds, development finance institutions and family offices on the realisation of Nigerian assets.
A fund is judged on realisations rather than on entries, and the Nigerian exit environment presents frictions that do not appear in a fund model written elsewhere. The domestic buyer universe has limited depth in most sectors. Foreign exchange availability affects both repatriation and a foreign buyer's willingness to underwrite. Holding periods across the market have extended well beyond original assumptions. And there is a persistent gap between strong naira-denominated operating performance and the dollar-denominated returns against which the fund will be measured.
An exit process that has not addressed these before launch will not clear, and a failed process is more costly than a delayed one.
What we do
Exit readiness assessment, conducted twelve to twenty-four months ahead of a target realisation, identifying what must change in the asset and in its reporting before a process can be run.
Portfolio company sale processes, run to the same standard and under the same gates as any other sell-side mandate.
Dual-track preparation where a listing is a credible alternative, and an honest assessment of when it is not.
Secondary sales, sponsor-to-sponsor transactions, and the sale of minority positions where governance rights determine what is actually saleable.
Management alignment. An exit fails when the management team the buyer is acquiring has no reason to remain, and this is resolved before a process begins or it is not resolved at all.
What we do not do
We do not raise funds. We do not advise on portfolio acquisitions. We do not act for a fund and for a counterparty in the same transaction, and we will not act for a buyer of an asset we have previously been mandated to sell.
When sponsors call us
A fund approaching the end of its investment period with unrealised Nigerian assets. A limited partner requiring visibility on a realisation timetable. An asset that has outgrown its original thesis or fallen behind it. A development finance institution seeking an exit that preserves the developmental outcome as well as the return.