West and East Africa lead M&A charge
The total value of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in Africa during 2017 recorded by DealMakers was $22bn from 362 deals; this excludes equity capital raising, restructuring and unbundling by companies,
Of the five geographic regions, West Africa and East Africa were, unsurprisingly, the most active (excluding SA). Deals valued at $3.65bn were recorded in Kenya from 60 deals. Nigeria recorded 43 deals and Botswana, Mauritius and Zambia announced 20 plus deals each. Mining remained the most active sector across these two regions accounting for a quarter of all deals announced, followed by financial services sector in West Africa and the transport sector in East Africa.
The five largest M&A deals announced outside SA were ExxonMobil of a 35.7% stake in Eni East Africa valued at $2.8bn; Vodacom’s acquisition of a 34.94% indirect stake in Safaricom from Vodafone ($2.64bn); the joint venture by Nigerian National Petroleum and Chevron Nigeria on the Sonam Project ($1.7bn); the Disposal by Sherritt International of a 28% stake in the Ambatovy joint venture to Sumitomo and Korea Resources for $1.4bn; and the acquisition by Milost Global of Primewaterview ($1.8bn).
2017 also saw the largest debt and equity restructuring transaction in Kenya with the $2.2bn restructuring of Kenya Airways. The transaction involved multiple creditors making for the largest and most complex corporate transaction undertaken in the Kenyan market to date.