Alantra, AlixPartners and Armstrong win private equity M&A award

29 April 2019 Consultancy.eu

Consultancies Alantra, AlixPartners and Armstrong have scooped M&A awards in recognition of their private equity work across Europe.

Now in its eighteenth year, The Private Equity Awards celebrates the overall achievements of European private equity houses and firms advising on transactions. Around 800 private equity professionals – industry experts and advisors – travelled to the United Kingdom last week to attend the awards show, which was held at the Hilton Park Lane in London.

On the night, the judging panel of leading industry practitioners announced winners across 25+ categories, with three of the awards going to M&A consultancies. The ‘Specialist Adviser of the Year’ award was won by AlixPartners, a US-headquartered management consultancy specialised in financial advisory, turnaround and performance improvement. In Europe, the privately-held and private equity backed consulting firm has seven offices, boasting a particularly strong market presence in the UK and the DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) region.

The ‘Corporate Finance House of the Year’ prize was lifted by Alantra, a global mid-market investment banking and corporate finance advisory. “2018 was a very strong year for Alantra in terms of activity, quality of deals advised, and overall growth”, Santiago Eguidazu, Executive Chairman of Alantra said. “The award is a testament to Alantra’s position as one of the leading mid-market advisors in Europe.” In 2018, Alantra advised on 202 transactions, of which 97 were in M&A, representing a total deal value of over €10 billion.

Meanwhile, London and Manchester based Armstrong won the ‘Commercial Due Diligence Adviser of the Year’ award. The accolade comes on the back of a stellar year for the specialist firm (Armstrong focuses exclusively on commercial due diligence work) – in 2018 the UK consultancy grew its revenues by 37% and client base by 14 accounts. Over the year, Armstrong completed 48 UK-based engagements, with 17 including significant activity in Europe; in France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Ireland, Norway and Finland. Alantra, AlixPartners and Armstrong win private equity M&A award According to PwC’s latest trend report into Europe’s private equity industry, the market has reached its highest level in a decade. Last year, the number of deals climbed 5.3% to 2,168 deals, generating a combined deal value of €262 billion, up 9% year-on-year.

An overview of all winners at The Private Equity Awards:

Advisory awards

Bank of the Year: Investec Bank
Specialist Lender of the Year: Ares Management
Asset-Based Lender of the Year: ABN Amro Asset Based Finance
Specialist Adviser of the Year: AlixPartners
Placement Agent of the Year: Rede Partners
Fund Administrator of the Year: Aztec Group
Regional Legal Adviser of the Year: Addleshaw Goddard
Pan-European Legal Adviser of the Year: Latham & Watkins
UK Corporate Finance House of the Year: GCA Altium
European Corporate Finance House of the Year: Alantra
Commercial Due Diligence Adviser of the Year: Armstrong

Deal awards

Central and Eastern Europe Deal of the Year: ArxEquity for VUES
Germany, Austria and Switzerland Deal of the Year: EQT for Sportradar
France and Benelux Deal of the Year: Apax for Azelis
Mediterranean Deal of the Year: Cinven for Ufinet
Nordic Deal of the Year: Nordic Capital for Anicura
UK Small Deal of the Year: Synova Capital for Mandata
UK Mid-Cap Deal of the Year: Sovereign Capital for Linnaeus
UK Large Deal of the Year: Bridgepoint for Pret A Manger
Grand Prix Deal of the Year: Bridgepoint for Pret A Manger

House of the Year awards

UK House of the Year: Inflexion Private Equity
Small Continental Regional House of the Year: Corpfin Capital
Large Continental Regional House of the Year: Ambienta
Pan-European House of the Year: Hg
Global House of the Year: Carlyle Group
Special Situations House of the Year: Alchemy Partners
Grand Prix House of the Year: Inflexion Private Equity