Strategic, Operational & Tactical risk assessments

Construction Sector – Nigeria.

We were approached by an investor seeking to participate in an acquisition of a construction company in Nigeria. The client needed an all-encompassing enquiry into the target company. As the information was required urgently our project team separated this into three parallel work streams, each focussed on delivering a key aspect of the information required by the client to decide whether they should go forward with the imminent acquisition.

Worksteam 1 focussed on in-person public records retrieval and “red flag” searches at the corporate registry, courts, and relevant agencies. Workstream 2 involved the execution site visits to various locations across several states to corroborate information provided by the target acquisition, such as the physical presence and activity at its sites. Workstream 3 covered source enquiries on the target company and its four directors. The scope of the enquiries covered commercial and individual background, extent of political exposure, details of any corruption allegations, and identifying any ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) – all of which were conducted in the highest confidence to preserve commercial confidentiality.

We presented our report to the client and armed with the insights and intelligence we provided they were able to make a considered, evidence-based decision as to whether to proceed with the acquisition. Ultimately, given the extent of the risks surrounding the target company the Client decided not to proceed.