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Clearwater completes deals worth EUR1bn over summer

Mid-market advisory firm Clearwater International has completed deals worth over EUR1 billion during what are typically considered to be the quieter summer months – activity which has seen the company’s average deal value soar to EUR84 million.

Following the first anniversary in June, of the merger to create Clearwater International, the business has seen exceptional levels of M&A in all of its territories and sectors, and no more so than in the UK where the team have completed 11 deals in the last 10 weeks.
 
Transactions included the MBO’s of Partner in Pet Food, worth EUR315 million, and Ideal Shopping – with private equity investment from Pamplona and Blackstone respectively. Overall nine of the 11 deals have had private equity involvement including houses such as Livingbridge, MML Capital, Inflexion, Palatine, Blackstone, Sovereign and LDC. However, financing has not come from this source alone – in the case of York Mailing innovative financial backing was provided by Pricoa Capital Group, the transaction highlighting the strong interest of alternative funders in quality UK assets. 
 
The increased activity levels have been matched by the addition of three senior team members into our UK team; James Barraclough, Dominic Bolton and James Sinclair (pictured). The three are responsible for heading up Clearwater’s cross border sector teams in financial services, media and food and beverage respectively. Clearwater’s commitment to graduate recruitment also continues with the arrival of four graduate junior analysts.
 
The transactions of the summer follow hotly on the EUR128 million sale of HL Plastics to Quanex, completed in June. 
 
Phil Burns, managing partner of Clearwater International, says: “So much for a quiet summer! We have seen an exceptional period for the business, reflecting considerable growth for Clearwater International. As we move into the final quarter of 2015 with a strong pipeline we look forward to some more exceptional outcomes for our clients.”

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