Nottingham corporate finance advisory firm in £30m merger
Catalyst Corporate Finance, which has an office in Nottingham, has been sold to to Alantra, the Spanish banking and asset management firm, in a deal worth £30m.
Catalyst will rebrand as Alantra UK and the move will see Catalyst partners driving the UK arm of the Alantra global M&A advisory business. The transaction involves 15 Catalyst partners and directors taking a shareholding in the listed group.
Catalyst’s managing partner, Andy Currie, said: “In combining with Alantra, our goal is to build one of the world’s leading mid-market advisory firms and we look forward to capitalising on this momentum as we drive forward the UK arm of the Group.
“As a result of the merger, we will be in the best possible position to meet the increasingly international needs of our clients, providing them with access to deep sector specialism, a global partnership and a broad, integrated product offering.
“We will bring this increased capability and deliver it in the style Catalyst has built its reputation on. The deal also brings great opportunities for our people, who will benefit from being part of a leading international business and working collaboratively with likeminded colleagues from across the globe.”
Santiago Eguidazu, executive chairman at Alantra said: “The UK is the most important M&A market in Europe and, as such, for a number of years we have had the strategic target to strengthen our M&A and debt presence in the country. We are extremely happy to have fulfilled this ambition by partnering with Catalyst, a firm that shares our values, has a strong leadership, and the same ambition of developing a highly specialized and truly global service for our mid-market clients.”
Catalyst Corporate Finance was founded in 1998 and now has 70 professionals based at three UK offices in London, Birmingham and Nottingham.
During the last five years, Catalyst has advised on over 100 transactions valued at over £5bn. In its fiscal year to 31 March 2017, Catalyst turned over £17m. The firm says that in the six months to 30 September 2017 revenues are up by over 60% compared to the same period in 2016.
