04/03/2020 - News
Clearwater International continues to rank in the top 10 in the European private equity advisory tables in 2019
Mid-market advisory firm Clearwater International completed over 110 deals in 2019, with 48% of its deals having Private Equity (PE) involvement.
A total of 53 deals were completed at a value of €2.8bn
A total of 53 deals were completed at a value of €2.8bn; 28 on the sell-side, 7 on the buy-side and 18 debt advisory deals, solidifying Clearwater’s top 10 position in the MergerMarket PE tables.
2019 saw the team work on deals involving over 30 different PE firms with advisers and vendors across 12 countries covering Clearwater’s territories plus Luxembourg, New Zealand, Poland and the US.
Some notable transactions included: the UK team advising specialist workforce management and resource scheduling software provider Kirona on its sale from PE firms Livingbridge and LDC to Advanced, a provider of business software and services backed by US-based investment firm Vista Equity Partners. The UK team also advised on the management buy-out of SRL Traffic Systems, UK’s leading manufacturer and provider of portable and temporary traffic equipment, supported by LDC and Crescent Capital.
The team in France also completed notable transactions involving PE including advising Consultim Group’s shareholders, a renowned expert in real estate asset distribution, on the sale of a majority stake to the investment fund BlackFin. The team also advised Tikehau Capital and Foncière Atland, on the sale of an Elis real estate portfolio to the American investment fund Blackstone.
The team in Germany advised Avedon Capital Partners B.V. on raising finance to support the acquisition of Hauck GmbH + Co. KG, a leading European nursery products brand.
The continued high levels of PE activity and strong fundraising levels keep building dry powder
Clearwater continues to work closely with Unquote on quarterly analyses of the multiples being paid by PE businesses across Europe. The Multiples Heatmap report details sector and country trends providing summary statistics to formulate a picture of the PE market.
The continued high levels of PE activity and strong fundraising levels keep building dry powder, making deployment of capital a priority for PE firms. Q4 of 2019 saw an increase in average multiples paid in PE-backed transactions throughout Europe indicating a strong start in the PE market leading into 2020.
