As the first half of 2020 draws to a tumultuous close, Clairfield International looks back at 15 years of a success story in mergers & acquisitions, accompanying clients through the ups and downs of the financial cycle. Clairfield’s ever expanding capabilities, sector specialization, geographic footprint, and next generation development have driven growth since our founding in 2005, leading to top 10 league table positions for midmarket M&A.

Between 2016 and 2019 Clairfield increased closed announced transactions on behalf of clients by 35% with a record aggregate deal volume of USD 5.4 billion in 2019. Clairfield revenues have doubled since 2017. Despite the difficult financial climate, we have recently finalized landmark transactions including:

• The sale of Eleda Group, an infrastructure services group, to private equity Altor Equity Partners.
• The acquisition by Nets Group of PeP, a leading Polish payment solution provider, for an EV of EUR 405 million.
• The sale of a majority stake of Costruzione Emiliana Ingranaggi S.p.A., a producer of vehicle parts, to Alto Partners SGR.

In addition this month saw the successful conclusion of the divestment of Vossloh Locomotives to CRRC Zhouzhou Electric Locomotive Co., Ltd. after approval by German authorities. This case illustrates Clairfield’s proven contacts and knowledge of the railway industry, the specialization on noncore disposals, and the expertise of our integrated China Desk.

Our clients’ successes have once again been reflected in Refinitiv’s H1 ranking of midmarket financial advisory firms. Clairfield takes great pride in ranking alongside the biggest names in investment banking. We also achieved top 10 placements in France, Spain, and the Nordics.

Clairfield is a specialist in crossborder transactions whether buy & build, non-core asset divestitures, or private company disposals. In addition, the Capital Solutions team offers additional services that are especially relevant right now. Our Capital Solutions specialists support clients in precarious situations and develop sustainable solutions to ensure business continuity in the short and long term. Our bankers are getting deals done bridging valuation gaps and engineering innovative purchase price and closing mechanisms.

With sector experts in six strategic verticals, Clairfield provides clients with in depth sector know how and decision maker access. Sectors with the most activity in the post COVID-19 era are likely to include digital health, e-commerce, and infrastructure.

Goegraphically, Clairfield has concluded a key partnership this year with publicly-listed Yamada Consulting Group (YCG) based in Japan and in various countries in South East Asia. We are already seeing interest from Japanese buyers for our European sellside clients thanks to the unparalleled reach of YCG at Japanese acquirors across all industries. Earlier this year, we were happy to welcome Patria as Clairfield’s partner in the Czech Republic, strengthening our top CEE team.

Clairfield takes pride in taking a crucial part in the formation of talented young people for careers in finance, particularly in challenging times of Covid-19. This summer we created innovative remote research internships for the next generation of financial advisors to get to know our industry.

“We look forward to the second half of 2020 with guarded optimism and a strong desire to help our clients get back to strength,” said Alexander Klemm, executive chairman of Clairfield.

Alexander Klemm