In the press
ANDREW BAHLMANN: The energy transition may drive deal flow in Africa in 2022
The jury is in: for the year to come it looks like nothing — not the latest surge in Omicron cases, the hesitant Ramaphosa administration nor economic uncertainties — will be able to derail the thundering pace of merger and acquisition (M&A) deal making. Businesslive 24 Jan 2022
The ARC, Ethos R1.5bn Investment in Crossfin
Investment by private equity and venture capital firms in the fintech space is surging so far this year having reached new highs and has emerged as one of the major trends in M&A. We had our own insight into the incredible entrepreneurism in this sector when recently advising Sybrin in its search for a buyer with dry powder cash reserves. Investing.com- 25 Nov 2021
Heineken's Announced Takeover of Distell Group - Hopeful Signs For SA
Announcements of foreign direct investments (FDI) into South Africa are coming thick and fast at the moment. The Heineken (AS:HEIN) announcement comes close behind the COP26 announcement of US$8.5bn renewables funding for South Africa; the R15bn investment by Vantage Data Centres in a Johannesburg campus at Attacq’s Waterfall mega-development; as well as a substantial investment by Chinese technology giant Huawei in its cloud computing service in South Africa. Investing.com- 15 Nov 2021
Gordhan takes hard line against Eskom loadshedding
Public enterprises minister pravin gordhan has taken a hard line against eskom's poor electricity supply, instructing the board to beef up the power utility with requisite expertise to deal with generation capacity. Business Report - 28 Oct 2021
What is your business worth to a buyer?
The true value of your business is what someone is prepared to pay. Business sellers love an auction process – buyers don’t. My philosophy and advice when assisting a business owner to sell their business is: don’t take a preconceived price to market – and certainly don’t announce it. News 24 – 15October 2021
Global Business - CGTN News - 28 Jul 2021 featuring Andrew Bahlmann
Deal Leaders International is experiencing a far more positive narrative in the local and international M&A acquirer market despite the challenges of the past 3 weeks. Recent events have been classified as the exception and M&A activity continues to be buoyant. Global Business – CGTN News – 28 July 2021
Should SA have downgrade fears?
Fears of an economic catastrophe if Moody’s downgrades South Africa to junk status after the national budget are misplaced. This is according to Andrew Bahlmann, CEO of Deal Leaders Africa who says despite a potential downgrade, the wheels of the country’s economy will keep turning. CNBC Africa – 18 Feb 2020 – Andrew Bahlmann
BEE, blackouts and Competition Commission trip up foreign investment
When the National Treasury first published its Economic Policy Paper at the start of Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidency, its purpose was to set the agenda for discussions on economic policy within the ANC and to serve as a framework for the economic policy of a new government.. Moneyweb - 14 Feb 2022
Rand falls to an eight-month low as fuel price hits standard of living
The rand fell to an eight-month low yesterday as the combination of lower commodity prices, the resumption of rotational power cuts and an unprecedented petrol price hike put the skids on the risk sentiment in the markets. Ehowzit.co.za – 4 November 2021
Funding For Bee Deals More Challenging
A stagnant economy has made raising capital for BEE deals a big challenge. What makes it even worse for first-time investors is that most do not have the required collateral (security). In addition, funders, who are typically conservative, have a put a low valuation of target assets. Transform SA – 14 October 2021
Adenia acquires leading distributor of electrical and solar equipment in South Africa
Adenia Partners, a private equity firm investing in Africa, has acquired a majority stake in Herholdt’s, a leading distributor of low-voltage electrical products and solar products in South Africa. Adenia – 21 June 2021
Naspers/Prosus on all-time highs; the hospitality industry during lockdown and M&A during the pandemic.
Viv Govender of Rand Swiss talks Naspers/Prosus trading at all-time highs; Sun International’s Graham Wood discusses the hospitality industry during the lockdown and Deal Leader Africa’s Andrew Bahlmann unpacks M&A activity during the Covid-19 period. Moneyweb – 12 May 2020 – Andrew Bahlmann
'South Africa's economic recovery is thrown into disarray as Eskom flicks the off switch
SOUTH Africa's power utility has dimmed a flicker of hope for the expected economic recovery, as it began rolling out rotational power cuts that could hamper industrial activity and business confidence. Business Report (Cape Times) - 3 Feb 2022
Pepkor's Possible Interest in Bidding for Tapestry Home Brands
The wave of recent announcements of foreign acquisitions of South African firms and consequent foreign direct investments (FDI) into South Africa may disguise the fact that the bulk of such mergers and acquisitions are in fact by local firms of local targets. Investing.com - 24 Nov 2021
Heineken makes a R40.1 billion bid for Distell, the biggest alcohol group in the country, and Namibia Breweries
THE world’s biggest brewer Netherlands-based Heineken has made a R38.5 billion offer for Distell, South Africa’s biggest alcohol group and the owner of brands such as Amarula, Nederburg, JC le Roux and Savanna. IOL - 16 Nov 2021
Andrew Bahlmann: Ict Investment SA’s Sharpest Tool Against Falling FDI
123RFFixed direct investment (FDI) in SA can have an outsize impact on our GDP. Data from the UN Conference on Trade & Development indicates that FDI inflows into SA have been on a downward trajectory since 2016, and in the past year alone fell 39% to a miserly R46bn ($3.1bn) in 2020. Head Topics - 27 Oct 2021
South32 pivots towards greener metals with Chile acquisition
THE SOUTH32 $2.05 billion R30.47bn cash acquisition of 45 percent of Chile mine Sierra Gorda represented another step in the group's pivot to extract resources for the accelerating global energy transition, chief executive Graham Kerr said yesterday.Business Report (The Mercury) - 15 Oct 2021
ANDREW BAHLMANN: Trash anything that hinders foreign direct investment
What SA and all of Africa need more than anything else to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic is foreign direct investment (FDI). Anything that enables FDI should be encouraged, and anything that hinders FDI should be shelved before it can do any more damage to economic growth and job creation. Businesslive - 25 August
Looting following Zuma's arrest raises SA risk premium
A call by President Cyril Ramaphosa to calm widespread unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng following the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma wasn’t enough to stop thousands of looters, many opportunistic, to attack and pillage businesses in South Africa’s two most populous provinces. Finweek - 23 July
Corporate governance under spotlight as EOH sues ex-bosses
CORPORATE wars among JSE-listed companies once again came under the spotlight early this week when EOH Holdings laid claims against its former executive directors who were allegedly fingered in corrupt activities during their tenure at the company. IOL - 4 July
Downgrade to junk won’t be the end of the world
It is not a rosy picture. But just as the Brazilian economy continued to grow after its credit was downgraded to junk status in 2015, the wheels of South Africa’s economy will continue to turn even if it is downgraded to junk. IOL – 20 Feb 2020 – Andrew Bahlmann
SA needs a real plan, not the rhetoric from Davos
Ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said he was confident that the government delegation attending would present a strong investment case for South Africa. And he should be. IOL – 23 Jan 2020 – Andrew Bahlmann
SA’s weak economy favours medium-sized companies
South Africa’s medium-sized businesses have generally proven to be more resilient to the prolonged weakness in the economy and are more likely to successfully weather the fallout from the lockdown than their smaller or larger counterparts.City Press – 18 June 2020 – Rick Grantham
