Debt advice spurs Clearwater to healthy year in challenging market
Manchester and Nottingham founded corporate finance advisory firm Clearwater International saw revenues fall by 9% last financial year, a drop which was lessened due to increased activity levels from its Debt Advisory team.
The debt team increased their year-on-year deal value by 139% and collectively raised €5.4bn in debt in FY 22/23.
Overall Clearwater estimate that the European corporate finance market dropped by some 25%-30%.
As an advisory firm with 17 international offices and more than 375 employees, Clearwater completed 126 M&A and 54 debt advisory transactions, together worth over €12bn.
The business reported revenues of €140m (£120m) and Mark Taylor, UK chief executive set this against a doubling of fee revenues in the previous year.
“Last year we locked in this new scale against a tougher market backdrop. Our ability to take market share in both strong and uncertain markets is a tribute to the drive and ingenuity of our people, the trust our clients continue to place in us as we accompany them on their journeys, and to our challenger mentality. We are proud to keep this mentality very much alive, despite our growing scale, now ranking us in the top 10 European mid-market advisers by deal volume and one of the largest independent players in the market,” he said.
The debt advisory team now comprises nine partners and over 40 professionals.
The traditional backbone of Clearwater’s advisory work is private equity with 64% of transactions involving PE funds involving 93 PE funds across Europe in total on deals worth close to €7bn.
Formed initially out of a network of independent corporate finance boutiques, in April 2023 Clearwater merged with Netherlands-based PhiDelphi Corporate Finance, which increased the overall office count to 17, across 10 European countries.
In the UK, Christopher Jones was appointed as managing partner and head of consumer, as well as of the London office. Three other new partners also joined the UK team. Greg Cant as head of financial services, alongside Richard Clark and Simon Chambers in the European Debt Advisory team.
Jo Daley
In addition, Jo Daley was appointed as director, head of impact, with a mandate to develop and implement Clearwater’s ESG strategy, as well as launching a client offering in the ESG space.
“We can provide companies and financial investors with support to mitigate risks and maximise the value available through demonstrable strong governance in this area,” she said.
Looking ahead to 2023/24 Mark Taylor added: “We have shown in the second half of FY 22/23 that tighter market conditions play to our strengths in deal-craft and delivering tailor made processes.”
