People


Paul Dufays is the Founder and Managing Director of Kapok Capital

Paul Photo from PPT1

Prior to founding Kapok Capital, Paul was Director of Oil & Gas Corporate Finance at Standard Chartered Bank and General Manager, Corporate Finance and Commercial at Amni International Petroleum Development Company Limited.

Paul is a graduate of Harvard University (A.B. Earth & Planetary Sciences, 1993) and Dalhousie Law School (LL.B., 1997).

He has worked on numerous acquisitions and disposals in the resource, infrastructure and other industries as well as debt and equity financings. He has extensive experience working in emerging markets and has executed transactions in Egypt, Yemen, Nigeria, Angola, Uganda, Norway, Russia, Israel, UK, US and Canada. Before becoming an investment banker, Paul was a corporate lawyer and has been a qualified lawyer in both England and Ontario.

Paul’s contact details:
M +44 782 456 2325
E paul.dufays@kapokcapital.com

 
 Andre Ayotte – Director, East Africa

Andre-Ayotte

Prior to working with Kapok Capital, André held commercial banking and trading roles with Toronto-Dominion Bank and National Bank of Canada.

André holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from McGill University (2008) and an MBA from the University of Toronto (2013).

André has a wide variety of transactional experience, including recently a share swap acquisition by Reservoir Capital Corp. (TSXV:REO) to acquire an indirect interest in the Kainji and Jebba hydroelectric projects in Western Nigeria. André has a particular focus on East Africa and the emerging oil industry in Uganda, Kenya and Somalia. He is a frequent traveller to the region.

André’s contact details:
T +44 20 3651 3875
E andre.ayotte@kapokcapital.com

 
 Claire Denham – Marketing and Research Manager

Claire-Denham

Claire manages Kapok Capital’s marketing activities, as well as research contributing to our business development efforts.

Claire holds a BA Joint Honours degree from the University of Bristol (2004).

Prior to working with Kapok Capital, Claire qualified as a solicitor and practiced law at an international US firm for several years, where she worked on a variety of energy transactions.

Claire’s contact details:
T +44 0333 355 0970
E claire.denham@kapokcapital.com

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