Vantage Capital, Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, has provided $20m (R294m) of funding to Landmark Africa, a property developer in Nigeria.

Johnny Jones, Associate Partner at Vantage Capital, said he was very impressed with Landmark’s long track-record of successful operating in a challenging environment like Nigeria.

“This type of transaction perfectly illustrates our firm’s investment strategy of supporting strong management teams of Pan-African businesses,” he said.

Headquartered in Lagos, with offices in several countries including South Africa and the UK, Landmark Africa has developed or managed over 130,000 m2 of prime real estate across the continent.

Over its 19-year history, Landmark has built a high-quality property portfolio, including A-Grade offices for over 100 corporate clients including the Nigerian headquarters for PwC and Procter & Gamble and provided development management services for one of the largest malls in Nigeria.

This investment is Vantage Capital’s second transaction in Fund III, which is targeting a final closing of $260m (R4bn), and has a 60% allocation to countries outside South Africa.

Vantage said that a Namibian and a South African transaction are expected to close during the first half of 2016 for a further aggregate investment of over $22m (R330m).

Luc Albinski, Managing Partner at Vantage Capital, said: “Nigeria has received much negative press recently with a number of South African companies running into difficulties there and some announcing their exit.”

“We hope that this mezzanine investment, the twentieth in our history, and one that takes us to the R3bn invested mark, will help convince investors that the country has much to offer for those willing to take a longer-term, more balanced view of the current challenges facing the country.”

Landmark is currently building Landmark Village, which will be an iconic “Live, Work, Play” mixed-use development with sea views in the exclusive area of Victoria Island in Lagos.

The company has already completed a 2,500 person events centre, a Japanese Shiro restaurant and a Hard Rock Café.

Warren van der Merwe, Chief Operating Officer of Vantage Capital, said: “We look forward to partnering with Landmark as they develop a world class mixed-use precinct in Victoria Island. We were impressed by the quality of the office buildings, and restaurants they have completed to date in Nigeria.”

Landmark will soon enhance the development with a training centre and two multi-tiered office buildings with over 20,000 m2 of dynamic office space.

The premises will also encompass a 4-star luxury hotel, fully serviced extended stay apartments and upscale residences for sale.

Paul Onwuanibe, CEO of Landmark, said: “We are excited to have Vantage partner with us on our journey to achieving the $5bn valuation mark over the next decade. We are convinced the advent of Vantage will portend a marked acceleration towards achieving our goals and rewriting the African story.”

Werksmans and Adepetun Caxton-Martins Agbor & Segun were the main legal advisors.

Investment One Financial Services acted as lead corporate advisor on the transaction.