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Clearwater advises leading SaaS business HCSS Education on sale to Access Group

Clearwater outperforms in 2023 and expects improving conditions and growth in 2024

Clearwater strengthens its foothold in Denmark with the addition of a new Partner

Rob Burden

I’m a Partner at Clearwater and lead the international Business Services team. I’ve been in M&A for nearly 20 years, always focused on advising entrepreneurs, founders and Private Equity clients. Since joining Clearwater in 2014 I’m proud to have delivered deals across the business services sector and have developed specific expertise in the Education and Training market.

Thomas Gaucher

I am one of the founders of Clearwater France and lead our financial services sector, ranging from insurance or credit brokerage (acquisition of Filiassur by Tikehau Capital), to regulated activities (sale of Luxembourg based Life Insurance company One Life to Aviva). I also lead our leisure sub-sector team which has been particularly active working on a number of transactions in sub-sectors such as: hospitality (sale of Morgan Stanley’s Parisian 4 starred Hotel Group to Swisslife); restaurant groups (sale of French Parisian brasseries Frères Blanc to Bertrand); holiday resorts, advising Pierre & Vacances in several deals; and in the camping/caravaning industry, advising leading French companies European Camping Group (ex Homair Vacances) and Vacalians. I started my career with CIC Bank investment, and then joined Lazard M&A and Close Brothers/DC Advisory. In total I have led more than 50 transactions, ranging from raising equity for start-ups, to negotiating deals for institutional groups, and in every case I am proud to help clients reach crucial milestones.

Alexandre Forget

I co-manage Clearwater's activity in the Mediterranean region, alongside Emmanuel Xerri. Following a career in large cap companies in London working for CIBC Capital Markets, I quickly moved into the small and mid-cap segment working for Degroof Petercam, CIC Conseil and then Clairfield International to advise families and shareholders on their strategic considerations. Our goal is to accompany our clients over the long term, by reconciling our technical expertise of the large cap market with tailor-made solutions which meet the specificities and challenges of SMEs. I have advised on more than 30 transactions, including the sale of Markal, a major player in organic food, to FrenchFood Capital, the sale of Laboratoire BioCasamance, a medical analysis laboratory, to Eurofins, the sale of Bio&Co, an organic distribution network, to InVivo, the acquisition of Maxicoffee, a coffee roaster and e-commerce business, by the Daltys group, BPI France and the Qatar sovereign wealth fund’s (QIA) investment in Alstef Group, an Industry 4.0 logistics solutions company, and the refinancing of laser cutting business GL Groupe and PSD, a pharmaceutical group. I am convinced that Clearwater's three-dimensional approach of sector expertise, regional proximity and international footprint is a differentiator for our clients.

Ralf Hermann

I have dedicated my entire professional career to successful corporate finance projects: M&A on the one hand, and sales of complex commercial property on the other. I have also managed various major corporate restructurings. My projects focus on the property and ancillary construction sectors, the transport and logistics sector, the food sector and industrial companies. As a partner at Clearwater Switzerland, I work on mandates for family-owned companies and listed mid-caps - always with the aim of achieving enthusiastic client feedback. During my professional career, I co-founded the Corporate Finance and M&A division of the Helbling Group, Switzerland's largest independent engineering and management consultancy. Subsequently, I co-founded Zetra International AG, a corporate finance boutique, which over time developed into one of the leading medium-sized M&A firms in Switzerland, with particular strength in complex transactions. I completed my university education at the University of St. Gallen with a Master's degree in Finance and Accounting, followed by a doctorate in Business Administration. I am a hard worker and value deep and often international friendships.

John Sheridan

I am the Managing Partner of Clearwater International’s Irish business. As founders of this business, John Curtin and I joined up with Clearwater in October 2015 having traded as a boutique brand known as Core Corporate Finance over the previous year. Prior to this, I was Managing Director at Key Capital Corporate Finance in Dublin, where I worked for eight years. I have 21 years’ experience as a corporate finance professional having originally qualified as a chartered accountant with PwC in 1997. At Clearwater, I lead our food & beverage team internationally. Our team in Ireland covers all sectors with a particular focus on food & beverage, TMT, industrials & chemicals and business services. The deals I am most proud of are the sale of IT services business, Version1, where we advised the shareholders on the company’s sale to private equity firm, Volpi Capital in a €90m MBO, followed recently by the sale of telecommunications engineering business, KN Group to French-based Circet. Since joining Clearwater, I try to lead by example and inspire our team to drive for excellence and high performance in everything we do. The strong results-oriented and personalised culture of our firm helps both retain and attract great talent. I enjoy working with highly ambitious entrepreneurs who are looking to develop their business internationally and use my experience gained over the past 21 years in navigating the optimal M&A process to help achieve their goals. I have completed eleven transactions over the past three years at Clearwater with a combined deal value of c. €1bn.