Under chief executive Bolaji Balogun, Chapel Hill Denham has become Nigeria’s preeminent independent investment bank, rivalling Standard Bank’s Stanbic IBTC for dominance. Its leadership is most evident on the advisory side, where it’s the go-to house in Africa’s biggest economy.
While other firms have struggled to drum up advisory business, Chapel Hill Denham has kept busy with numerous deals across the continent for Access Bank. These included advising Access on its planned restructuring to a holding company and on the bank’s ambitious steps to build up its pan-African footprint.
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Chapel Hill Denham advised Access Bank on the $15 million merger between its Zambian unit and Cavmont Bank; the $27 million acquisition of a controlling stake in Grobank South Africa; and the $93 million acquisition of a 78% stake in African Banking Corporation (ABC) in Botswana, part of the Atlas Mara restructuring. It is also advising Access Bank on the acquisition of ABC in Mozambique.
In other sectors, Chapel Hill Denham advised on a $49 million merger between Chemical Allied Products and Portland Paints and Products Nigeria to create the country’s biggest paint and chemicals company. It also advised the Nigerian Stock Exchange on its demutualization.
This put an end to a long-running conflict between the interests of the dealer-members and the government, which funded the exchange’s creation. With a better separation of commercial and regulatory activities, the exchange can now be listed and raise capital.