Investment Professionals
Luc Albinski
Executive Chairman
MBA (INSEAD)
Luc Albinski
Luc is the co-founder and co-managing Partner of Vantage’s mezzanine funds, with responsibilities spanning mezzanine investments’ assessment, structuring, execution and post-transaction monitoring.
Luc is one of two executive members of the Mezzanine Funds’ Investment Committees, and has played a leading role in the thirty investments executed by the three funds since 2007.
Prior to joining Vantage in 2006, Luc spent time as a Strategy Consultant with Bain & Co. in Paris and with Accenture in Johannesburg. After completing his MBA at INSEAD, he joined the International Finance Corporation (IFC) based in Washington DC. At the IFC, Luc worked on advisory and investment projects in Brazil, Gabon, Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
On returning to South Africa in 1998, Luc joined Brait as a Deal Executive responsible for investments in various key sectors.
Luc then spent two years in Poland as founder / CEO of an employee benefits business, before returning to establish Standard Bank’s private equity department, with its focus on mezzanine transactions in the mid-market. Luc went on to head up Standard Bank’s mezzanine finance department, co-leading several noteworthy transactions which included funding for the buy-out of the South Africa subsidiary of Waco International, and providing a R1 billion mezzanine tranche for the De Beers empowerment transaction.
Luc holds an MBA from the INSEAD Business School in Fontainebleau, France. He studied for his undergraduate economics degree at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris.
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Warren van der Merwe
Managing Partner
CA(SA), B.Com (Hons), M.Com (Wits)
Warren van der Merwe
Warren is the co-Managing Partner of Vantage’s mezzanine funds. He joined Vantage in 2007, originally as Chief Financial Officer, where he ran the finance and reporting function of the group, but was also active in operational activities such deal assessment, the execution of several transactions, monitoring of certain investments and fundraising. Thereafter he moved into a Chief Operating Officer role, focused on the group’s primary activities of investing, portfolio monitoring and fundraising. Warren was promoted to Managing Partner in 2018.
Warren is a qualified Chartered Accountant who served a year of academic articles at the University of Witwatersrand and then completed his articles at Arthur Andersen. He embarked on a banking career as an Account Executive in the corporate banking division of Standard Corporate & Merchant Bank, managing the bank’s relationships with its mining clients.
Warren then assumed a new business development role, going on to lead a team of transactors. Subsequently, he joined the bank’s acquisition finance team where he successfully concluded a number of leveraged finance transactions, before joining Vantage.
Warren is a Chartered Accountant and earned his undergraduate, honours and masters degrees in Commerce at the University of the Witwatersrand.
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Alastair Campbell
Managing Director – Vantage GreenX
CA(SA), B.Com, Hons B Compt
Alastair Campbell
Alastair joined Vantage in January 2014 and is a Director of Vantage GreenX, and member of its Investment Committee. His primary responsibilities include the assessment, structuring, execution and post-transaction monitoring of senior debt advanced to projects in the sustainable energy space. He has overseen the fourteen solar and wind investments that the two GreenX funds have executed to date.
Alastair is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He completed his articles in 1995 at Deloitte in Johannesburg, before moving to the UK. After a year at NatWest Markets, Alastair joined Standard Bank London in the project finance team, working on infrastructure and power sector transactions in fifteen countries across the African continent.
In 2003, Alastair moved back to South Africa, joining Standard Bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking division, heading up the renewable energy finance team and managing the funding of more than R15.5bn of debt to wind and solar projects.
Alastair was President of the UCT Rowing Club and was awarded a full Blue for rowing from 1986-1989. He represented South Africa in 1987, when selected to row for Trident Rowing Club (the national squad).
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Siyanda Khumalo
Chief Financial Officer
CA(SA)
Siyanda Khumalo
Siya joined Vantage in 2011 as a Financial Controller, assisting the then Chief Financial Officer, Warren van der Merwe, with the overall finance function. After three years in this role he
joined the partners of Kleoss Capital as a Chief Financial Officer, responsible for the set-up of the Kleoss Fund I. At Kleoss Capital, Siya’s activities included negotiating the terms of the fund agreements with the fund’s investors and prospective investors, setting up the entire finance function, the investor reporting, and most of the day-to-day operational functions of the company.
Siya spent two years in this role before re-joining Vantage Capital as Chief Financial Officer in 2016, having gained years of institutional knowledge.
Siya graduated from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal with a B.Com (Accounting Honours) degree and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. He completed his TOPP articles with the Standard Bank Group.
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Pavel Lekov
Chief Financial Officer
ACA (ICAEW), BSc (Hons)
Pavel Lekov
Pavel Lekov joined Vantage Best in Class at the beginning of 2022. In addition to his responsibilities at Vantage Best in Class, he is working as the CFO of Maple Bear Central Europe, Maple Bear Polska and Maple Bear Czechia.
Pavel has worked for Deloitte, both in Bulgaria and in the UK, for over 7 years, spending his time predominantly within the Audit & Assurance and Transaction Services departments. He graduated with a degree in Accounting and Finance (BSc) from the Warwick Business School and in his time in Deloitte, Pavel became a member of the ICAEW Chartered Accountants (ACA).
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Johnny F. Jones
Partner
CFA, CPA, MBA (Wharton)
Johnny F. Jones
Johnny F. Jones joined Vantage in 2009 and is a Partner with a primary focus on the Mezzanine Fund’s activities. In addition to South Africa, Johnny is responsible for the Nigerian and Ghanaian markets. He oversees the Servest, Landmark, Maryland Mall, Genser and Bay Realty investments.
Johnny began his career in 2000 working as an Equity Research Investment Analyst at Wachovia Securities in Atlanta, Georgia, where his focus was on macroeconomic trends and investment strategies. Later, he spent two years at KPMG in the economic & valuation services division based in New York. In this role he worked as a generalist providing debt and equity value indications for companies in financial services, steel and entertainment industries.
Johnny went on to work in the leveraged finance group at UBS Investment Bank in the U.S. In this role he specialised in the basic materials sector, assisting in underwriting transactions and providing relative value investment recommendations for listed debt securities. He left UBS to join Vantage.
Johnny received his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and his Bachelor of Science degree (Economics) from Duke University in North Carolina. He became a CFA charterholder in 2007 and passed the certified public accountant exam in 2003.
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David Kornik
Partner
CA(SA), CFA, M.Com (UCT)
David Kornik
David joined Vantage in 2010, and is a Partner focused on the Mezzanine Funds. His scope of influence covers South Africa, Namibia, Egypt and Ethiopia and he oversees the Fund’s investments in Dynamic Bedding, AfriSam, United Africa Group and Petro Ivoire.
David has 15 years of experience in private equity, mezzanine and specialised finance. Before joining Vantage, he was an Associate Director at Barclays Bank in their leveraged finance team. Based in Dubai, David worked on a variety of leveraged buyout transactions within the Gulf region. Before that, he worked as a Finance Manager for Barclays in their London head office, and for KPMG in Johannesburg, as a supervisor in their Financial Services division.
David holds a Bachelor of Business Science (Finance honours) and Masters in Commerce from the University of Cape Town. He is a qualified CA (SA) and a CFA charterholder.
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Driss Benabdeslam
Associate Partner
MSc in Risk & Investment Mgmt
Driss Benabdeslam
Driss Benabdeslam joined Vantage in 2017 and is an Associate Partner responsible for originating and assessing transactions in West African and Maghreb francophone markets. He oversees the Fund’s investment in Petro Ivoire and Equity Invest.
He began his career in the private equity department of BNP Paribas Wealth Management, participating in the launch and marketing campaign of a US$ 1.9bn European Fund and US$ 1.5bn Chinese Fund.
Driss moved on to Idinvest Partners, a European leader in private equity, contributing to private equity fund investment analysis in diverse mezzanine transactions in Europe. Driss then worked as an Investment Analyst within the French team of Equistone Partners, operating across France, Germany, Switzerland and the UK. Thereafter, Driss worked as an Investment Analyst at Amethis Finance, a Pan-African private equity firm investing in equity and debt across various sectors including consumer, financial services and infrastructure. He then moved across to an Investment Associate role in the Paris office of InfraMed Management, a private equity infrastructure and project finance platform focused on the south and east of the Mediterranean region.
Driss holds a French ‘Grande Ecole’ degree in Business and a M.Sc in Risk and Investment Management from EDHEC Business School.
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Roshal Ramdenee
Associate Partner
CFA, MBA (Duke), B.Bus.Sc (UCT)
Roshal Ramdenee
Roshal joined Vantage in 2020. He is an Associate Partner in the Mezzanine division, covering South Africa and East Africa.
Roshal has 9 years of experience in banking, mezzanine and structured equity. He began his banking career at Barclays Africa, where he spent 2 years as a graduate analyst in M&A based in London and Johannesburg. He thereafter joined Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) as a Transactor in their Principal Investments division, where he concluded a number of successful transactions over his 5 year tenure. Roshal then left RMB to pursue further studies, completing his MBA at Duke University in North Carolina (US). Whilst studying, Roshal spent his spare time working as a Venture Fellow at Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network working with high-growth start-ups. After completing his MBA, Roshal joined Microsoft, focusing on strategic financial projects and new business models across their US Enterprise business. He returned to South Africa to join Standard Bank as a Senior Dealmaker and executed a number a structured equity transactions prior to joining Vantage.
Roshal holds a Bachelor of Business Science from the University of Cape Town and an MBA from Duke University. He is also a qualified CFA charterholder.
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Derek Alexander
Associate Partner: Legal
B.Com (Law) LLB
Derek Alexander
Derek Alexander joined Vantage in 2019 and is Vantage’s Legal Executive, assisting the investment team with the assessment, structuring, execution, post-transaction monitoring and exiting of investments, as well as holding responsibility for company secretarial and compliance matters.
Prior to joining Vantage, Derek spent five years as a Senior Associate in the M&A department at Werksmans, a leading South African law firm based in Johannesburg. He specialised in takeovers, mergers & acquisitions (including cross-border transactions), corporate reorganisations, due diligence investigations, private equity transactions, shareholder arrangements and distressed company transactions. His experience includes a number of transactions in the mining, healthcare, energy, financial services and fin-tech sectors.
Before joining Vantage, Derek was named by The Legal500 (2018-2019) as a ‘next generation lawyer’ in the Corporate/M&A space.
Derek completed a B.Com (Law) before obtaining an LLB from the University of Johannesburg, which he completed with distinction and top of his class.
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Darshan Shah
Senior Associate
BSc in Mathematics &
Economics
Darshan Shah
Darshan Shah joined Vantage in 2019 and is an Associate at Vantage, assisting with originating and assessing transactions in South Africa and East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda). He oversees the Fund’s investments in Rosslyn Riviera and Simba Properties.
Prior to joining Vantage, he worked as a Senior Associate at I-DEV International, a boutique investment advisory firm headquartered in San Francisco. Working at their Africa regional offices in Nairobi, Darshan was involved in assessing and structuring various sell-side venture capital and private equity transactions across tech, manufacturing, FMCG and retail sectors.
Before I-DEV International, Darshan worked for three years as an Analyst at PKF Consulting within the Corporate Finance team. During that time, he conducted numerous commercial viability assessments, financial modelling, due diligence and valuation engagements in East Africa for private and publicly listed companies.
Darshan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics & Economics from the London School of Economics. He is currently pursuing the CFA qualification having completed the Level 2 exam.
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Omar Gharbawi
Senior Associate
BBA (Finance), BA (Economics),
Passed all CFA exams
Omar Gharbawi
Omar Gharbawi joined Vantage in 2019 and is an Associate focusing on originating and assessing transactions in South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia.
Before joining Vantage, Omar spent three years as an Equity Research Analyst with EFG Hermes – one of the leading investment banks in Africa. In this role, he analysed publicly listed companies in the MENA region, while advising asset-managers and hedge-fund managers on various investment opportunities.
Prior to that, Omar was a summer analyst at EFG-Hermes Investment Banking division, where he worked closely with clients across M&A and capital market transactions.
Omar received his double degree (Bachelor of Business Finance and Bachelor of Arts in Economics) from the American University in Cairo. He has also passed all three levels of the CFA programme on first attempts.
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Tobi Kasali
Senior Associate
CFA, MSc (Corporate Finance), BSc
(Mathematics & Accounting)
Tobi Kasali
Tobi Kasali joined Vantage in 2019 and is an Associate assisting with originating and accessing transactions in South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana.
Prior to joining Vantage, Tobi spent four years as an Investment Banker in the advisory business of Chapel Hill Denham, a leading Nigerian Investment Bank, where he advised large Nigerian corporates and international investors across M&A and capital markets. In doing so, he covered several industry sectors, including FMCG, real estate, industrials and financial services.
Tobi received his Master’s Degree (Corporate Finance) from Cass Business School, UK, and his Bachelor of Science Degree (Mathematics, Accounting and Financial Management) from Loughborough University, UK. He became a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Charterholder in 2019.
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Yasthira Ramdenee
Associate
B.Bus.Sc, MBA (IE Madrid)
Yasthira Ramdenee
Yasthira Ramdenee joined Vantage in 2019 as an Associate, and assists with originating and assessing transactions in the West African and South African markets.
Yasthira previously worked at Fieldstone Africa, Eaglestone Capital Advisory and Macquarie Capital where she advised on renewable energy and infrastructure related transactions, including bidding processes as part of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP).
Prior to joining Vantage, Yasthira completed her MBA at IE Business School in Madrid. She also holds a Business Science Finance degree from the University of Cape Town and is a South African National.
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Abigail Newham
Associate
B.Bus.Sci (Finance)
Abigail Newham
Abigail Newham joined Vantage in 2020 as an associate focusing on originating and assessing transactions in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Mauritius.
Before joining Vantage, Abigail spent two years working in the Goldman Sachs Sub-Saharan Africa Investment Banking team, where she worked closely with clients across Africa covering both M&A and capital market transactions. Prior to Goldman, Abigail worked as an investment banking intern at Citi Group in both Johannesburg and London.
Abigail received her Bachelor of Business Science degree specialising in Finance from the University of Cape Town.
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Abdoulaye Fall
Senior Analyst
MSc (Economics & Mgmt)
Abdoulaye Fall
Abdoulaye Fall joined Vantage in 2021 as a Senior Analyst, and assists with assessing and executing transactions in West African and Maghreb francophone markets. Abdoulaye began his career at Amethis, a Pan-African private equity firm investing in equity and debt across various sectors. Prior to that, he interned at Oakam, a micro-lending institution based in London, and at BeMyEye, a French tech-enabled retail intelligence company.
Abdoulaye holds a French ‘Grande Ecole’ degree in Business and a M.Sc in Economics and Management from ESSEC Business School.
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Sarah Watson
ESG Officer
B.Soc.Sci Honours (Geography & Enviro Mgmt)
Sarah Watson
Sarah Watson joined Vantage in 2021 and is Vantage’s ESG Officer.
Prior to joining Vantage, Sarah was a Senior Social Consultant at EBS Advisory, a leading African ESG Advisory firm. Sarah specialised in E&S due diligence assessments, E&S management systems, as well as Impact and ESG reporting. Prior to this Sarah had worked for over 10 years as an Environmental and Social Consultant specialising in ESIAs, E&S risk management, E&S Compliance Auditing, and Public Participation and Stakeholder Engagement.
Sarah holds a B.Soc.Sci (Geography & Environmental Management) Honours degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, which she completed Cum Laude.
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Dishen Naidoo
Compliance Officer & Company Secretary
LLB
Dishen Naidoo
Dishen Naidoo joined Vantage in 2021 as Compliance Officer and Company Secretary. He has worked as a consultant and legal advisor specialising in fund compliance and corporate governance in the financial services industry. After completing a stint at Legal Aid South Africa, Dishen joined Alexander Forbes in 2013 as a consultant specialising in insurance and retirement fund law. In this role he worked with a number of large South African based retirement funds in the private sector. Prior to joining Vantage, Dishen worked as a compliance officer and legal advisor at Discovery Life in Johannesburg. He specialised in compliance, umbrella funds, group risk insurance cover and discretionary investment products.
Dishen obtained an LLB from the University of KwaZulu Natal, and a post graduate qualification from the University of the Witwatersrand in Retirement Fund Laws.
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