B&I is widely considered the leader in the capital markets and in the top couple for M&A and although marginally less active in banking and project finance, peers and clients rate it on quality.A long-term client using them on refinancing matters says it is "superb; they have been very good, they are my top law firm, very hard-working, work around the clock"....
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B&I is widely considered the leader in the capital markets and in the top couple for M&A and although marginally less active in banking and project finance, peers and clients rate it on quality.
A long-term client using them on refinancing matters says it is "superb; they have been very good, they are my top law firm, very hard-working, work around the clock". "We used them on a Nigerian $500 million ten year sovereign bond issue," says another client, "they had a good understanding of local regulations, worked very closely with us going beyond the ordinary, the partners were available to us... very solution-driven." "They come very highly recommended by magic circle firms," notes a new client.
Others recommend Asue Ighodalo as "extremely good: she has strong knowledge and is an impressive transaction manager, got bags of tricks somewhere, always thinking and very dynamic". Femi Olubanwo and Ayo Owoigbe are also praised by clients as "very competent, professional and effective".
In capital markets, Ighodalo advised the government on a $500 million sovereign bond issue, Flour Mills on its $449 million debt issuance programme, Edo State on its $162 million bond issuance and United Bank of Africa (UBA) on its $2.6 billion MTN programme with a first issuance of $130 million.
Owoigbe and Olubanwo led teams to advise Stanbic IBTC on a $30 million receivables-backed trade finance facility to Tak Continental and acted for a syndicate of Nigerian banks on a $650 million dual tranche facility to Emerging Markets Telecommunications Services, one of the largest syndicate loans in the market. In projects, Ighodalo, Isa Alade and Ogunro closed a $105 million financing for Main One Cable Company.
In M&A, the firm won mandates from Benue Cement Company on its $136 million merger with Dangote and the government on the proposed $2.5 billion privatisation of Nigerian Telecommunications.
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