Birmingham-based mid-market advisory firm Clearwater International enjoyed a strong 2014, completing 51 transactions, worth £1.2 billion.
The year saw the creation of the firm from the merger of Clearwater Corporate Finance in the UK with organisations in Spain, Portugal and Denmark - as well as entering into a strategic alliance with Chinese investment bank Interchina.
Clearwater International operates across nine sectors and the firm’s industrials and chemicals team was the most active, completing 14 deals.
This included the sales of Amber Chemicals, Door Stop International and Pentagon Chemicals – all showing interest from US trade buyers is high.
The keynote deal of the year was the sale of FastTrack listed Burnt Tree, another cross border sale to a US buyer.
In all 28 of Clearwater International’s deals included private equity involvement including Nurseplus, Handicap-Befordring, Character World, Gatenby Sanderson, Stroma and Gymbox.
The business has also seen strong levels of activity from its debt advisory practice, with 16 of the company’s deals being structured with debt.
With loan pricing reducing considerably in the last 18 months, competition in the European mid-market between banks and debt funds has increased.
Phil Burns, managing partner of Clearwater International, said: “This has been a year of considerable change and growth for Clearwater International.
“Merging with our partners in Spain, Portugal and Denmark has been an exceptional achievement, and one that has enabled us to extend our sector expertise across Europe.
“Our strategic alliance in China has also provided some excellent results for our clients.
“The merger has given us a depth within our sector teams which creates intimate knowledge of buyers and funders. When we deliver this in an integrated way it has produced some truly excellent client outcomes.
“Our deals pipeline means our business should grow further in 2015, which looks set to be a lucrative year in the M&A market”.
