Independent · Principal-led · Johannesburg

Precision. At the centre of every decision.

An independent corporate finance and strategic advisory firm where the most senior qualified adviser is present on every engagement — from first mandate to final execution. Big Four rigour, delivered entirely at principal level.

Request a consultation → Explore our services
Founded
Johannesburg · 2025
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The clients who need the best advice most often receive the worst experience. We exist to close that gap.

Credentialled & standards-led SAICA CA(SA) — Chartered Accountant King IV Governance aligned JSE Listings readiness IFRS Reporting standards POPIA Data & confidentiality
A senior adviser reviewing financial analysis with a client
Advising at the centre of the decision
Principal delivery

The most senior qualified adviser, present on every engagement.

An independent corporate finance and strategic advisory firm where the principal CA(SA) who reviews your situation is the same person who builds the model, writes the report and signs their name to it — from first mandate to final execution. No hand-offs. No junior substitution.

Meet the principal →
01 — The Firm

A boutique built to be neither the bank nor the Big Four.

Mandates at the large firms are sold by partners and delivered by graduates. At investment banks, no transaction fee means no interest. Tanaka Advisory operates on a principal-delivery model: the person you meet at the pitch is the person who builds the model, writes the report and signs their name to it.

Founded by Elton Tanaka Mujeri CA(SA), Tanaka Advisory provides analytically rigorous, commercially grounded counsel to founders, CFOs, boards and institutional investors navigating capital markets, transactions, valuations and the decisions that define a company's trajectory.

We are not an audit firm, an investment bank or a financial product provider. We carry no house product to sell, no audit relationship to protect and no transaction fee that misaligns our advice with your interest. Our independence is structural, not aspirational.

We are intentionally sized, accepting a limited number of active mandates so that each client receives the undivided attention their engagement deserves — with the directness, discipline and personal accountability the best clients expect.

The name

Tanaka · 田中

Japanese for "one who lives at the centre of the rice field" — the adviser who tends the most vital ground and sees the full picture from the middle of it all.

田
Ta
Fertile, productive land
中
Naka
The centre of it all
A modern boardroom
Where consequential decisions are made
1
Principal CA(SA) accountable for every deliverable — no junior substitution, ever
10
Focused corporate finance & strategic advisory disciplines
Same-day
Senior response on active mandates — no layers, no hierarchy, no delay
02 — Capabilities

Ten disciplines. One senior hand on every one.

A focused suite of corporate finance and strategic advisory services, each delivered at principal level by a qualified CA(SA) with direct accountability for the quality of every output.

03 — Industries

Cross-sector insight that specialists miss.

Our breadth across adjacent markets means we understand how comparable businesses are valued, financed and transacted — and we bring that comparative perspective to every mandate.

04 — The Difference

The same name on the pitch and on the report.

In a market that offers institutional brand with junior delivery, or access with thin analytical depth, Tanaka Advisory was built to be neither. The contrast is structural.

Dimension
Big Four & Banks
Tanaka Advisory
Who delivers your work
Graduate analyst or junior associate
Principal CA(SA) on every mandate
Access to your adviser
Partner appears at pitch and close
Same person from day one to delivery
Response time
24–72 hours through layers
Same-day on active mandates
Conflicts of interest
Audit, tax & advisory bundled
None — pure advisory, no product
Cost model
High overhead passed to client
You pay for expertise, not infrastructure
Personal accountability
Diffuse across teams
The person who signs it wrote it
05 — Methodology

The Tanaka Engagement Framework.

A structured, phased approach calibrated to each client's objectives and timeline — designed to ensure clarity of scope, rigour of analysis and practical, actionable output.

06 — Selected Work

Illustrative engagements.

The type of mandates we undertake, and the approach we bring to each. Client details have been adjusted to preserve confidentiality.

Case 01

Capital Raising & Investment Memorandum

Healthcare — Fertility & Reproductive Medicine
The Challenge

A private fertility clinic group sought growth capital for national expansion. The founder had a compelling clinical story but lacked the investor-ready documentation serious institutional capital requires.

Our Approach

We rebuilt the financial model, prepared an independent valuation, developed a comprehensive investment memorandum and designed an equity structure balancing founder dilution against investor return requirements — supporting management through investor meetings and diligence.

The Outcome

The clinic raised R45 million in growth equity at a pre-money valuation consistent with our analysis. The investor proceeded on the Tanaka memorandum without commissioning a separate due diligence report.

Case 02

M&A Financial Due Diligence

Financial Services — Non-Bank Lending
The Challenge

A mid-tier private equity fund was evaluating the acquisition of a non-bank lender with complex loan-book dynamics, concentration risk and management accounts that understated the credit-cycle position.

Our Approach

We performed full financial due diligence — quality-of-earnings analysis, loan-book stratification, impairment assessment and working-capital normalisation — and delivered a report with risk ratings and a recommended price-adjustment mechanism.

The Outcome

The fund acquired the business 12% below its initial offer, with a deferred-consideration mechanism tied to loan-book milestones that protected against the identified credit-cycle risk.

Case 03

Board Governance & Risk Framework

Listed Company — Consumer Retail
The Challenge

A JSE-listed retail group received adverse governance findings from its auditor and faced shareholder pressure to strengthen board oversight and risk management ahead of its AGM.

Our Approach

We conducted a King IV governance effectiveness assessment, redesigned board and committee charters, refreshed the risk appetite statement, built an integrated risk-reporting framework and trained non-executive directors on their fiduciary duties.

The Outcome

The company received a clean governance assessment from proxy advisers at the subsequent AGM, and shareholder support for the board reached its highest level in three years.

07 — In Their Words

What it is like to be advised at the centre.

Attributed by role and sector to preserve the confidentiality our mandates require.

The person who pitched us was the person who did the work. We have never had that with a large firm, and we will not go back.
CF
Chief Financial Officer
Listed Consumer Group
The model and memorandum were so well constructed that our investor proceeded without a second diligence exercise. That paid for the engagement many times over.
F
Founder & CEO
Healthcare Group
Candour you can act on. He told us what we needed to hear about the loan book, and it changed how we structured the entire deal.
P
Investment Partner
Private Equity Fund
Same-day responses on a live transaction, from the principal himself. The pace and the rigour together are genuinely rare.
C
Board Chair
JSE-Listed Company
08 — The Principal

One adviser. Fully accountable.

Tanaka Advisory is led — and delivered — by its founder, supported by a trusted network of specialists engaged when a mandate calls for it.

Elton Tanaka Mujeri

CA(SA) · Founder & Principal

A Chartered Accountant registered with SAICA, Elton brings expertise across the full spectrum of corporate finance — business valuations, financial modelling, due diligence, capital raising, M&A advisory, investment analysis, strategic planning, risk governance and board advisory.

His work spans healthcare, financial services, technology, consumer, real estate, mining and industrial businesses. He is known for combining forensic analytical discipline with the courage to deliver a clear, direct point of view — and for building advisory relationships that are, first, human relationships.

CA(SA) · SAICA Corporate Finance Valuations & M&A Johannesburg, South Africa
09 — Insights

Perspectives from the centre of the decision.

Considered writing on valuation, capital and governance for the African market. New perspectives published periodically.

10 — Questions

Before we begin.

The questions discerning clients ask most often. If yours is not here, ask it directly.

11 — Contact

Let us be the adviser at the centre of your next decision.

We accept a limited number of mandates. Tell us about yours, and the principal will respond personally.

Direct Enquiries
advisory@tanaka.co.za
Principal
Elton Tanaka Mujeri CA(SA)
Location
Johannesburg, Gauteng · South Africa
Thank you — your enquiry has reached us. The principal will respond personally, in confidence, within one business day.

Strictly confidential. Your information is used solely to respond to your enquiry.