Nottingham corporate finance advisory firm reports high levels of private equity activity
Mid-market advisory firm Clearwater International, which has offices in Nottingham, says 70% of its deals in 2018 had private equity (PE) involvement.
The firm says a total of 75 deals were completed at a value of €9.8bn; 42 on the sell-side, 18 on the buy-side and 15 for M&A and debt – almost double the deal value in 2017.
The deals involved over 40 different PE firms with advisers and vendors across 10 countries covering Clearwater’s territories plus Italy, Switzerland and the US.
The team also completed a total of 39 debt advisory transactions across Europe throughout 2018, a 40% increase in deal volume, demonstrating the growing importance of debt advisory in the current market. Of these deals, 29 involved PE funds.
Notable transactions included: the UK team advising Leicestershire housing provider Westleigh, a Palatine Private Equity investment, on its sale to housing developer Countryside Properties; and the €315m MBO of Partner in Pet Food, one of Europe’s leading pet food producers to Cinven, a global private equity investment firm.
In 2019, the firm says it is continuing to see “high levels” of PE activity in all regions and anticipate increased activity levels from North American PE funds and their portfolio companies.
