Mazars, a global firm specializing in audit, accounting, tax and advisory services, has acquired Corality Financial Group (Corality), a financial modelling consultancy and training provider.

Anoop Ninan, Mazars Managing Partner in Gauteng, South Africa, said that after the acquisition, Corality will be integrated into the Mazars Global Infrastructure Finance team, which will comprise of more than 120 people in London, Sydney, Paris, New York, Delhi and Johannesburg.

“The collection of global expertise in this team will allow us to service all projects in Southern Africa and Africa. We are currently busy with various energy and telecoms projects in Southern Africa and West Africa and this merger provides additional capacity and expertise to draw on, in order to execute these projects timeously,” he said.  

“The team will work as an integrated global team with significant skills transfer. We envisage an increase in the size of the Africa team over the next few years,” he added.

Ninan said that this is a significant strategic move for Mazars that will enable the group to increase its footprint in infrastructure finance and to partner with clients in any jurisdiction from Asia-Pacific to EMEA, to the Americas.

“Corality is renowned for its exceptional financial modelling consultancy and training academy and is a great match for Mazars. Combined, we are a truly world-class infrastructure finance team,” he said.

Founded in Sydney, with offices in London and New York, Corality is also not new to the African continent, most notably having provided transaction and financial modelling support to clients active in the early rounds of the renewable energy program in South Africa, as well as to international mining firms appraising mining investments in sub-Saharan Africa.

Bob Green, Mazars Head of Global Infrastructure Finance, said: “This deal is a key milestone in our growth plan to develop a global, integrated infrastructure finance team that operates in all major markets. Our highly experienced teams will provide a one-stop service for  infrastructure sector clients offering  financial modelling, model audit, training, transaction advisory and valuation services across the globe.”

Green said that this deal opens the door for significant growth.

“We could certainly see building a South Africa-based team over the coming years, delivering a full range of advisory and assurance services to both local and international clients interested in investing in infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.