Lead Specialist: Corporate Finance at Liberty Group South Africa

Purpose

• To provide subject matter expertise, advice and guidance, based on in-depth industry insight to the Corporate Finance team on strategic projects, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures in order to enable the financial services provider to stay progressive, competitive and succeed in its industry.

Minimum Experience

• 4 - 7 years demonstrated transaction experience in Corporate Finance or M&A at a large global Corporation or Investment Bank. Experience in executing all aspects of transactions including direct experience in M&A negotiation, execution and integration. The role requires an experienced individual with a thorough understanding of the end-to-end Financial Value Chain

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degrees in Business Commerce, Finance and Accounting

Additional Minimum Qualifications

• CA (SA) qualification is preferred
• CFA will be advantageous

Process

• Coordinate and conduct the research and due diligence process on target companies in order to determine their value as potential acquisition targets and prepare recommendations to the Insurance and Asset Management (IAM) Executives
• Determine the appropriate valuation of a company based on its financial position and growth potential, using a range of methodologies appropriate to the relevant target, drawing upon independent data sources
• Create effective and concise presentations of proposed deals/projects for internal and Investor approvals. Conduct information analysis and reporting of proposed transactions to country level EXCO's and boards, IAM Exco and the group boards and Investors as required
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with key internal and external stakeholders (including Legal, Tax, Capital Management, Financial Reporting, Compliance and Business Units), including the senior management, regulators, investment bankers, lawyers, and other professional advisors
• Support the identification, proposal and execution of opportunities that will help the organisation grow and succeed through actions such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), divestitures, and deals that leverage the value of the company’s business platform. Execute on medium complexity transactions in order to mitigate significant financial risks and grow the organisation
• Support the execution of the Corporate Finance strategy in alignment with the organisation’s business goals and strategic objectives of becoming the leading financial services organisation
• Provides support for the development of business cases, operating budgets and financial models for valuation of acquisitions and assess strategic investment initiatives to enable effective decision making
• Provide support in the development of competitive landscapes and ongoing assessment of market changes in order to provide insights to the organisation. Evaluate macro-level trends, track competitor strategies and communicate insights to support organisational strategy
• Implement a robust and comprehensive process to identify and evaluate potential opportunities, which includes a rigorous idea generation and screening process that will bring quality acquisition and investment ideas to IAM
• Provide input and execute less complex strategic transactions, projects and initiatives such as joint ventures, divestitures, licensing and partnership activities to ensure alignment with the risk appetite and strategic aspirations of the organisation

Process

• Evaluate new business opportunities, including the development of commercial business cases for the Head of Corporate Finance, in order to enable IAM Exco and key Client Segments executives to make informed decisions.
• Evaluate potential mergers and acquisitions based on financial projections and industry trends to enable the Head of Corporate Finance to influence strategic decisions across the different Client Segments and at IAM Exco.
• Implement the structuring and negotiation of deals and the detailed terms of transactions to enable efficient and effective execution of the deal.
• Act as a reliable point of contact for information in cross-functional teams in developing acquisition business case analyses and executing and interfacing with Finance, Accounting, Capital Management, Compliance, Legal, Risk, Tax, People and Culture and other Corporate Functions across the organisation to ensure seamless deal execution.
• Perform hypothesis development, due diligence, preparation and presentation of internal documents, and negotiation of commercial terms and associated legal agreements.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and developments and share insights and recommendations with the leadership team and other key stakeholders across the Standard Bank Group.
• Synthesise and distill key findings from complex information to inform the problem-solving process. Identify and apply best practices to issues at hand, being alert to new perspectives and applying frameworks to solve problems

Customer

• Provide authoritative, specialist expertise and advice to internal/external customers, that builds strong relationships and creates a favourable impression aligned to Treating the Customer Fairly (TCF) principles.

Finance

• Implement and monitor financial controls, management of costs and corporate governance throughout the area of specialisation.

Learning and Growth

• Contribute positively to human capability improvement, related to knowledge optimisation and associated with area of specialisation.

Governance

• Develop and/or align governance and compliance policies for own practice and/or tactical area to identify and manage risk exposure liability related to the area of specialisation.