ANDREW BAHLMANN CA(SA).
Managing Director – Deal Leaders Africa
Andrew was thrown into the entrepreneurial world at an early age and experienced the ultimate baptism of fire. He learned at a young age that everything in business revolves around relationships, sales and integrity. He ran his own travel business for six years, whilst completing a CA degree (part-time) and articles in three years.
He then followed the traditional corporate route. Based in New York, he was responsible for an insurance client’s operations in Bermuda and their US short-term and life insurance portfolios. Andrew then returned to South Africa to take up the position as CFO in WesBank’s Corporate Division. It was an incredible learning curve and a successful tenure that oversaw implementation of profitability and aligned remuneration structures, yielding positive growth for the Corporate and Motor Divisions. He learned the fundamental dynamics of how large companies invest and grow through negotiation and acquisition. He contributed to growing the balance sheet to R114bn over his 5 years, and then decided to follow his passion to develop and build businesses.
Andrew’s consultancy, IntelStrat, focused on fostering what he refers to as ‘entrepreneurial DNA’ in the corporate sphere (coining the term Corpreneur). His biggest insight during this time was understanding around what truly creates value in a business. Crossing paths with BCMS – the largest facilitator of the sale of private companies in the world – created the opportunity for Andrew to combine his learnings over the years.
The experience on both sides of the Mergers & Acquisitions table has allowed Andrew to authentically connect with seller and acquirer alike. Many of the local and international entrepreneurs he has engaged with have kept his passion for building businesses alive!
As a deal leader, shareholder and director at Deal Leaders Africa, every day reveals exciting new challenges.
RICK GRANTHAM
Executive – Deal Leaders Africa
Rick studied Mechanical Engineering and spent a number of years running large production operations for various corporates. Following his MBA in 1998 he did a stint in banking before commencing his entrepreneurial journey. Having owned businesses in the media, broadcasting and consulting space, he started a sell-side advisory business in 2012.
Rick’s engineering and manufacturing experience provides him with an excellent base for understanding businesses in the industrial space. His MBA and subsequent work with a US credit card bank, Capital One, and Nedbank, expanded this experience into the financial sector and gave him significant insights into the relationship between marketing and credit risk.
Rick’s first step towards his entrepreneurial journey was to move out of the corporate world to run an educational television business delivering video-based training to the Ethiopian government. This introduced Rick to his first business acquisition, a TV broadcaster and production company. After 5 years Rick exited the business and started a growth consulting business assisting small businesses with their growth strategies. In partnership with one of his clients he built a sell-side advisor business which delivered incredible success in the sale of privately owned businesses.
Rick brings his broad business and operational experience, supported by hands on Mergers & Acquisition transactional track record, to a well-resourced and powerful team at Deal Leaders Africa.
