Cleary Gottlieb advised private equity client Helios Investment Partners in its equity investment in First City Monument Bank, a leading Nigerian Bank. Helios acquired 15% of First City through Helios Investments, L.P., a private equity fund focused on sub-Saharan Africa, which Cleary Gottlieb helped form in 2006. The First City stake, signed in March and closed in April, is the fund?s first completed investment.
First City was the first Nigerian bank established without government or foreign support. The bank, one of the top two merchant banks in Nigeria prior to its conversion to universal banking in 2001, is listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.