White-labelled · Never client-facing

The corporate financier you hire behind your engagements

So you can say yes to 3× the mandates.

Financial models, valuations, Information Memoranda and board packs. Senior hands, not an analyst bench. Your brand, your client, your credit.

US$2.3bn
Largest listed transaction (JSE, fairness opinion)
~15
M&A mandates, valuations & expert reports
~10 yrs
In BDO's Corporate Finance team
Buy & sell
Full M&A lifecycle, both sides
Why me

Ten years of advisory experience gets you a clear read on the engagement scope and deliverables, disciplined execution against them, and the key risks and highlights that carry the weight in the last mile.

01

The scope

A proper peer-level conversation about what your client expects and what the engagement letter promises — not a brief taken down and executed blind.

02

The execution

Disciplined delivery against that scope: the model, the IM, the databook, built to the standard the deliverables demand.

03

The last mile

The key risks and highlights, handed over in a short briefing note, so you can stand behind every number in the room.

Experience across
M&A Valuations Financial due diligence Financial modelling Advisory
The split
10%Yours
80%Mine
10%Yours
You win it · 10%

The mandate, the client, the expectations. Origination and the relationship are yours — before I ever start.

I build it · 80%

Financial models and valuations, Information Memoranda and teasers, board and investment-committee packs, monthly management reports, market and company research, databooks, data rooms and due-diligence support. The production that has to happen — done, and never seen.

You close it · 10%

The judgement, the negotiation, the last mile. Where your value actually lands.

The point isn't the split. It's that I carry the 80% — so the next mandate doesn't cost you a hire.

The promise

Never client-facing. By design.

The first question every adviser asks is whether I will take their client. The answer is structural and contractual, not a promise you have to take on trust.

Working together

Simple, and confidential.

Advisory work is lumpy. Peaks cost you deals, troughs cost you overhead — capacity you can turn on and off solves both.

01
You brief me on the mandate. Under NDA, you share what you need done and by when. I tell you honestly how quickly I can get you to the last mile.
02
I deliver the 80%, white-labelled. The deliverables, in your format and under your brand. Your name on the work.
03
You take the last mile. The judgement, the client, the close.
Selected work

Sell-side and buy-side M&A, valuations and independent expert reports on listed transactions up to US$2.3 billion — alongside the A$1.5–6m EBITDA mid-market sell-sides that are a boutique adviser's daily work.

JSE · Fairness Opinion
Assore Limited: delisting via share buy-back
c. US$1.0bn
Independent expert team (JSE): valuation & fairness opinion
Mining · Coal
Life-of-mine valuation & financing for two assets out of business rescue
EV c. £381m
Cost-driver analysis; LoM & capital-structure modelling
Health & Fitness · Sell-side
Sale of five fitness centres
EBITDA c. A$3.7m
Lead adviser: financial model, IM & data room
Drilling & Mining · Buy-side
Acquisition of a drilling company from a PE vendor
EBITDA c. A$3.5m
Lead adviser: buyer-side negotiations, lead model
Professional Services · Sell-side
Sale of a quantity-surveying & cost-management firm
EBITDA c. A$1.5m
Lead adviser: IM & model, running the offer process
Mine Camps · Sell-side
Sale of a mining accommodation business
Strategic sale
Lead adviser: IM, teaser & data room

Live and confidential mandates shown by sector · closed, publicly-announced transactions named · see the full track record

Who you are working with

Leo Malan

Nearly ten years in BDO's Corporate Finance and Advisory teams, in South Africa and then Perth, running M&A mandates end to end. A Chartered Accountant with around twenty years in the profession and deep experience across mining and resources M&A, coal, gold, PGM, chrome and iron ore, in Australia, Southern Africa and cross-border. The standard of execution you would expect from a national corporate finance team, available to you directly, and only ever behind the scenes.

More about Leo →

Experience~20 YRS · ~10 AT BDO CORP FINANCE
QualificationCHARTERED ACCOUNTANT · CA ANZ
Sector depthMINING & RESOURCES M&A
ScaleJSE FAIRNESS OPINIONS TO US$2.3BN
EngagementWHITE-LABELLED · CONFIDENTIAL
Start here

Let's talk, confidentially.

Tell me about the mandate. I will tell you how quickly I can get you to the last mile.

Start a confidential conversation

or email [email protected] directly