Slightly smaller than its competitors, G Elias & Co is a top flight banking and capital markets firm. "They are quick and professional ....
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Slightly smaller than its competitors, G Elias & Co is a top flight banking and capital markets firm. "They are quick and professional ... I am talking about people who give you what you want in real time. I even felt that they were pushing me to work," says one client. "On a creative side I would go with them," says one peer.
In capital markets, the firm advised Starcomms on a $530 million private placement of shares, and the Energy Company of Nigeria on an additional $500 million placement. In another key deal, the firm acted for Ecobank Transnational on a $2.5 billion cross-border equity offering, constituting the first ever simultaneous offering on three stock exchanges and the largest equity offering in Nigeria. The firm also assisted the National Sports Lottery on an IPO.
Banking work saw G Elias assist the African Export-Import Bank and Nedbank in $25 million and $50 million facilities to local banks, and represent the Nigerian Export-Import Bank in a $600 million textile development fund deal. One pioneering transaction saw partners Fred Onuobia and Kike Siji-Fasole advising PHB Capital & Trust in establishing the first exchange traded fund (ETF) in the country.
The firm advised MTN Nigeria on its acquisition of VGC Communications, constituting one of the first formal mergers under the 2007 Investments and Securities Act, and acted for United Bank of Africa on its acquisition of Afrinvest. The firm also advised Negris Holdings in the largest acquisition of a news print facility in West Africa.
G Elias also advised Standard Chartered in a $410 million financing of the Lekki toll road project.
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