A&O Shearman’s Post

JUST GOT ACQUIRED: M&A Week of March 11th, 2024 Let's dive in most recent deals trending in the space: 1/5 The Riverside Company has successfully sold Hiway Group, a leading Australasian specialist transport infrastructure services provider, to New Zealand private equity firm Direct Capital. $EWA 2/5 Bow River Capital has made a majority platform investment in Accelo, a leading cloud-based Professional Services Automation (PSA) suite. The investment, backed by a detailed three-year action plan, targets the multi-billion-dollar addressable PSA market, signalling the beginning of transformative plans for Accelo's future growth. 3/ 5 London-listed investment firm Bridgepoint has acquired RoC Skincare, an anti-aging cosmetics brand, from Gryphon Investors for approximately $500 million. he acquisition aligns with Bridgepoint's strategic investments in the cosmetics sector, following its purchase of French company Vivacy in 2022, and reflects considerable M&A activity in the skincare space... https://lnkd.in/gfPQU5kC $CLOU

**Food For Thought: For The Middle Market PE Firms Out There** 🧠 🥙 In a recent conversation the Morningside Group had with one of our larger #PrivateEquity clients we compared the current M&A landscape to the Watchmaking industry. Our question was simple: How's the market? Their response was even simpler: Right now, it is EASY to find success with "ROLEX" companies. Companies that have invested the hours and due diligence into themselves during hold periods; improving their efficiencies, their people, and their systems to ensure they laid the foundation for scale over time. However, even though they are only a couple of steps away, the "TAG Heuer" companies are struggling to find the same success. Which for investors and owners is nauseating, because at the end of the day, they're still great timepieces (companies). The moral of the story is that most PE backed middle-market companies are content. They aren't looking for big organizational changes that will effect their historic processes, their tenured people, or the systems that have been in place for years. It's TIME consuming. (Fair) They're profitable and that should be enough for successful exit. Frankly, it is not - the Firms and Portfolio Companies that continue to condition their companies, bring in outside eyes & ears for perspective, and promote change will continue to be the big winners in 2024 and beyond. Dive deep in due diligence, invest internally, and change the status quo. #Money #MergersandAcquisitions #VentureCap #VC #Consulting

Three Hills, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of a minority stake in La Bottega S.p.A., a cosmetic amenities provider for hospitality industry, from The Equity Club, an investment company, for €115m. “Three Hills has always focused on Italian entrepreneurs capable of building unique businesses globally and who are looking for an international platform like ours to continue to grow. Tommaso and his team represent exactly this, and we are very happy to begin this journey together in a sector that is undergoing consolidation, while providing the tools and financial resources to enable the company to continue the ambitious growth of recent years both in its core business and through acquisitions. As an environmentally conscious company, La Bottega also aligns strongly with Three Hills’ sustainability principles and together with our in-house Value Creation team, we are keen to drive the Company’s full impact potential in the years to come," Mauro Moretti, Three Hills Founder and CEO. La Bottega S.p.A. (led by Tommaso Pacini) was advised by Mediobanca. Three Hills (led by Mauro Moretti) was advised by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), KPMG, PwC, Legance, Tancredi Group and Altman Solon. The Equity Club (led by Roberto Ferraresi) was advised by Mediobanca, New Deal Advisors SpA, Deloitte, Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici and Studio Chiaravalli & Reali. #MergersAcquisitionsDivestitures #PrivateEquity #Cosmetics

Germany’s No. 1 M&A Advisor 🏆   We are very proud to announce that, according to the annual Mergermarket rankings, Carlsquare was Germany’s most active M&A advisor in 2023.   What’s more, in a year when our closest competitors saw double-digit falls in transaction volume, we not only matched but improved on our 2022 deal count.   A huge thank you to our global team, whose hard work every day makes achievements like this possible, as well as to all the businesses who chose to partner with Carlsquare over the past year.   Onwards and upwards to still greater things in 2024! #mergersandacquisitions #manda #mergermarket

Imagine if every week had a highlight reel... Well, Mergermarket does. It's not automated yet, so please bear with me! 😉 ❄ Eskimoz and its sponsor Momentum Invest are working with Clipperton on a potential sale for the competitor to French peer Primelis, recently acquired by Sagard. (with Gustav Højmark-Jensen and Dominic Pasteiner) ✈ OpenAirlines flies with Lincoln International, en route for a sale this year. (with Arezki Yaïche) 💻 OpenGate Capital is ready to kick off a sale of portfolio company ScioTeq towards the end of the second quarter, with Lazard already getting in touch with potential bidders. (with Arezki) 🏠 We also took the time to dive into the European hospitality sector, still recovering from the pandemic. “The combination of a sharp fall in inflation, sticky wage growth, tax cuts and lower interest rates will give households more disposable income to spend in the second half of the year and should provide a welcome boost for the sector”, Paul Newman told us. 🏅 As the Olympic Games are getting closer and close, the spotlight will be on France this summer, which is “already the first tourist destination globally with a proven excellence in hotel management, catering, fine cuisine but also in innovative ticketing solutions and independent tour operators”, according to Jacques ROPARTZ.

Worried about authenticity in the luxury watch market? LuxeMetrik ensures your acquisitions are genuine and valuable through expert guidance and market analysis. 🕰️🔍 . . . . #LuxeMetrik #AcquisitionGuidance #LuxuryWatches #InvestmentStrategies #AuthenticationServices #ClientFocus #TailoredSolutions #UnlockingValue #YourStoryOurExpertise #DreamAssets #HNWIndividuals #FinancialSecurity #BuildingWealth #Confidence #WatchAuthenticity #RareWatches #WatchCollector #LuxuryInvestments #ExpertGuidance #MarketAnalysis #PeaceOfMind

What an incredibly interesting case for VC branding. Jessica Matthews spoke to Divesh Makan, founder of ICONIQ Capital, earlier this week in Term Sheet. “We left a white space that, if you don’t fill it, someone else fills it for you,” Makan said. “So suddenly, everyone else is telling our story.” You have nothing to lose by building your brand, but a lot to lose when you don't. This is not to say that ICONIQ has lost. They certainly haven't. This is to say, if you can tell your own story, why let other people do it for you? If you want to talk fund marketing, I'm just a hop, skip, and DM away. #vcplatform #personalbranding Divesh's full interview here: https://lnkd.in/gEJEbNWm

🚀 We're excited to share the latest edition of Growthink Capital's M&A Observatory! 🍣 Following last month’s Roark Capital takeover of Subway, the streak of restaurant acquisitions continues with The ONE Group (STK, Kona Grill, RA Sushi) acquiring Benihana for $365M. Founded by the legendary Hiroaki “Rocky” Aoki, a former wrestler and father of famed DJ Steve Aoki, Benihana is the largest operator of teppanyaki #restaurants in the U.S. with 88 global locations. 🤝 Deal Activity: Growthink tracked 885 closed M&A #transactions in the U.S., with 60% carried out by corporate acquirers and a median deal size of $116M. 🛠 Market Dynamism: From 1869 hammer-producer Vaughan Manufacturing to Johnson & Johnson’s $13.1BN acquisition of Shockwave Medical Inc., deals span Commercial Services, Enterprise #Software, Media & Information Services, #Engineering, #Distribution, and #LifeSciences. Full report at https://lnkd.in/dCUnvV7Y ☎ Get in touch directly with me, Eddie Clay, Anna Vitale, or Jeff Jones to explore the #sale of your company, #liquidity for shareholders, or growth-by-acquisition opportunities.

On Monday I joined Nader Naeymi-Rad at the Beauty Independent Dealmaker Summit held here in London. The two-day event brought together influential dealmakers from within the beauty and wellness industry as well as founders and CEOs of some of the world’s best brands – from indie to global. We spent 45 minutes discussing the often unspoken topics when it comes to beauty M&A: - What makes a brand thrive post-acquisition – success is often varied, but what is the reason for this? - What makes it a good brand for an acquisition? - How the Unilever Prestige business model broke the mould of what was expected from a large corporation – we focus on a brand-centric approach and avoid “one-size-fits-all” - The changing acquisition landscape and the role of private equity and VC’s in a brands journey – where and how to they add benefit? It was a full agenda with some inspiring and highly knowledgeable speakers. If you can make the next one in 2024 I recommend attending for a refreshingly honest and transparent look into dealmaking in beauty. #beauty #industry #brand #growth #acquisitions Unilever Ventures

Global and Italian M&A trends 2023 and 2024 Outlook. Let's discover together the main insights from the M&A world. Find out more https://bit.ly/495mAi8 Massimo Benedetti Emanuela Pettenò Nicola Anzivino  _ #PwCAdvisory #MandA #TLC #Moda #Immobiliare #Ristorazione #PwCItaly