Member firms of M&A International have merged to form Oaklins, a new global player with around 700 professionals across 60 offices globally. With the integration of the member firms, Oaklins bolsters its financial muscle to better compete with the larger players in the M&A space, and through better collaboration between local hubs the firm down the line expects to pave the way for improved client services.
Since its founding in 1985, M&A International has grown into one of the world’s larger corporate finance and investment banking groups. In the last five years the network’s member firms, which spans 40 countries, have closed approximately 1,500 deals (30,000 transactions since inception), of which over 50% were cross-border. According to Thomson Reuters’ data, M&A International last year ranked number six worldwide in the number of mid-market deals up to $500 million.
In a bid to further strengthen the network’s position in the M&A market – an industry worth $5 billion last year, according to McKinsey & Company analysis – the leadership team has decided merge its member firms into a single global entity and rebrand the firm as Oaklins. “Clients nowadays want their financial advisors to be capable of accessing buyers and sellers in every corner of the world. From today, we will bring the close relationships formed through our local offices to the world stage, making Oaklins an integrated independent global M&A advisory firm”, explains Florian von Alten, a Partner at Oaklins in Germany, one of the firm’s larger markets, and President of Oaklins International.
Through the new international structure and joining of forces, von Alten says that Oaklins will be able to deliver larger and more complex deals as well as, across the board, provide better results for clients – the M&A advisory works for private shareholders, financial investors and corporate clients, among others. “Local teams will be strengthened with global specialists for every deal assignment. New global IT systems have been rolled out to provide seamless global cooperation and the sharing of sector expertise, market intelligence and valuation trends”, explains von Alten.
When asked how Oaklins will stand out from the crowd in what is a highly competitive market, von Alten points at two key factos. The firm will continue to focus on the mid-market segment, “Oaklins will be one of the largest and most experienced global mid-market M&A and corporate finance advisory firms.” The President of Oaklins International adds that the consultancy differentiates itself through its strong industry focus across 14 select sectors, with more than ten dedicated sector research teams established to support further development of sector expertise.
Thomas Jungreithmeir, Managing Partner of Oaklins Austria – formerly TJP Advisory & Management Services – echoes von Alten’s sentiment: “Our Austrian and international clients will hugely benefit from the creation of Oaklins because of our fortified focus on industry sector expertise and our increased global reach. From now on, all our deal teams will be strengthened by global industry experts.”
Last week two other M&A network, Redwood Capital and LD&A Jupiter, merged to form Drake Star Partners, a financial advisory player with over 60 M&A advisers across nine offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
