BrazilIMAP adds Portugal-based Invest Corporate Finance to network
Invest Corporate Finance, an investment banking and M&A advisory from Portugal, has joined the IMAP network.
Having advised over 200 transactions with a total deal value of over $10 billion, IMAP is one of the globe’s larger M&A consultancy network with a focus on the mid-market. On average, the deals advised on by IMAP members firms last year had an average deal value of $62.2 million. IMAP currently operates with offices in 39 countries, with the addition of Portugal-based Invest Corporate Finance marking the firm’s 40th country where it has an on the ground presence.
“We welcome the whole Invest Corporate Finance team to our footprint. I am certain they will play a pivotal role in collaborating not only with our Portuguese speaking teams in Latin America and Africa, but will be a conduit for Portuguese investments throughout Europe and the world,” said Jurgis Oniunas, IMAP’s Chairman.
Founded early last year, Invest Corporate Finance has grown to a team of eight professionals*, serving clients in the utilities, transportation, healthcare, distribution, industry, shipping, media, food & beverage and telecoms sectors.
Founder and Managing Partner Gonçalo Vaz Botelho boasts a long track record in mergers & acquisitions and capital markets, having held board level roles at Banco Banif and at the investment business of Caixa. He started his career at Banco Português do Atlântico and BNP (nowadays BNP Paribas). Other key team members include Pedro Benites and Miguel Delfino. Testimony to the team’s work, Lisbon-based Invest Corporate Finance has been lauded by among others the International Banker and Global Banking and Finance Review.
Commenting on the joining of forces, Botelho said “The combination of local presence with a global reach and personal relations with potential investors and targets is crucial for the success of most M&A projects. As a partner of IMAP, Invest Corporate Finance is able to identify and contact buyers and investors as well as target companies all over the world, regardless of nationality, language, culture and size.” Across its portfolio, nearly a third of IMAP’s transactions are cross-border.
The addition in Portugal comes on the back of more international expansion for IMAP. Early this year, the M&A advisor saw Degroof Petercam, a corporate finance firm active in Belgium and France, and Verdant Capital, an Africa-based player offices in Johannesburg, Accra, Kinshasa and Mauritius, join its network. Meanwhile, last month the firm’s US partner, Capstone, acquired Headwaters MB, making the combined Capstone Headwaters one of the largest independent mid-market M&A investment banks in the United States.
* Invest Corporate Finance is a joint-venture of the firm’s management team together with Banco Invest, a Portuguese banks serving the mid-cap sector.
