Franck Ceddaha and Edmund Higenbottam Appointed to the IMAP Executive Board

The IMAP Executive Board comprises 10 members elected for four-year terms by the IMAP Partner Firms.  Responsible for establishing IMAP’s global strategic direction, it works to ensure that the partnership continues to grow and deliver exceptional value to its clients. As IMAP welcomes two new members, Franck Ceddaha, and Edmund Higenbottam, we find out more about their current roles, as well as discuss their vision for IMAP and what are the growing partnership’s priorities in terms of expanding its global footprint.

First, many congratulations on your election to the IMAP Executive Board. Perhaps you can share with us a bit about your role within your firm.

FC: I am one of the three Managing Partners within the Paris Investment Banking unit of Degroof Petercam - IMAP Belgium & France. We are a proud IMAP partner since 2018.

ED: I am the Managing Director of Verdant Capital – IMAP South Africa.  I founded the company in 2013, and over the last 11 years, together with the team, we have built up the company to become one of the largest mid-market advisors in Africa and a highly successful credit funds manager. We have a team of 35 professionals across six offices. 

Where do you believe you can most contribute to the Leadership team?

EH: I would like to contribute ideas and share prospectives from Verdant’s journey, having built winning franchises in segments within the overall market . The IMAP Executive Board comprises successful M&A bankers from around the world, and while our focus is of course on how to ensure IMAP’s success, we have a valuable opportunity to learn from one another.

FC: I believe that leadership is a « mayonnaise » of integrity, trust, vision, and management. And I will endeavor to do my best to deliver the best recipe to the IMAP Executive Board! 

What’s your vision for IMAP moving forward?

FC: Our chairman Jurgis V. Oniunas continues to show us the way forward. At our foundation, we are a strong and efficient international partnership of midcap trusted advisors who love to do business together (and have fun!). Moving forward, we will look at further strengthening our presence is Asia, just as have done in the Middle East. In parallel a key priority will be increasing the visibility of the IMAP brand to ensure that our clients can extract more value from our international range of services. Digital tools including AI and M&A valuation metrics will be at the center of these initiatives.

EH: Our goal is to further strengthen the brand, as well as our collaboration. We will also continue to focus on extending our global footprint, specifically in the Eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and East Asia.

How does IMAP differ from other mid-market M&A advisors?

FC: We have an extremely deep level of sector expertise. As we work together with our international partners on more cross-border deals, this allows us to offer more deal opportunities to our clients.

EH: IMAP is a leading global mid-market M&A advisory and has established a very strong reputation in the market over the last 50 years. 

Franck Ceddaha

Managing Partner, Investment Banking

Degroof Petercam - IMAP France 

Edmund Higenbottam

Managing Director

Verdant Capital - IMAP South Africa