Arqaam Capital, the specialist emerging markets investment bank, has announced the merger of Akanar Partners, a dedicated corporate finance and M&A advisory firm headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, into Arqaam's regional platform. Akanar Partners is focused on corporate finance, M&A advisory, equity and debt raising and structured finance. Since its establishment in 2009, Akanar Partners has advised on more than 17 M&A, capital markets and debt transactions with a total value of over EGP7billion ($786 million). Akanar Partners' team comprises 15 people and will be fully integrated into Arqaam Capital, and will lead corporate finance efforts across the firm's regional footprint. Radi el-Helw, head of Arqaam Capital Egypt, said: "We are delighted to announce the successful merger of Akanar Partners into Arqaam's regional platform. This milestone represents another strategic step in the implementation of our growth strategy in emerging markets, which alongside driving organic growth, includes pursuing value-creating acquisitions in our core markets." "The addition of Akanar Partners will complement the already highly-regarded Arqaam corporate finance platform and allow us to build scale and capabilities within the M&A advisory services space to better serve new and existing clients and to deepen our core value proposition as an efficient intermediary between capital and investment opportunities in Egypt, the GCC and sub-Saharan Africa." "We are bringing on board an excellent firm led by seasoned investment bankers with decades of prior experience from highly-regarded global and regional banks. The team's transaction experience, sound industry knowledge and deep corporate relationships play to our strengths in the investment banking space in Egypt and the region. We look forward to working with them to grow the business," added Radi el-Helw. Omar Reda, co-founder & co-managing partner, Akanar Partners, said: "My partners and I are excited to be joining Arqaam Capital, an investment banking group that shares our passion for high performance and great customer experience." "More importantly, we believe there is a strong strategic and cultural fit between our respective teams. We look forward to providing Arqaam's clients with sound advisory and improved access to transaction flows through Akanar Partners' established presence and proven track record in Egypt while providing our existing clients with enhanced access and superior product offerings across the GCC and sub-Saharan Africa," Reda added.
