Alantra expands London presence through £30 million Catalyst merger

Professional services firm Alantra has combined with Catalyst Corporate Finance. The transaction, valued at over £30 million, remains subject to approval from an Alantra Shareholder Meeting and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Catalyst Corporate Finance, which has offices in Birmingham and Nottingham, is set to rebrand following a transition period, having announced its merging with Alantra, a global investment banking and asset management firm listed in Spain. The £30 million move comes at a time of increased international consolidation among mid-market advisors, as competition heats up in this segment thanks to new innovative market disruptors leveraging technology to challenge established companies.

It also follows a trend towards independent advisors gaining increased presence in global M&A, especially in large transactions – something also shown by the recent launch of boutique M&A consultancy Sunfish. According to Mergermarket’s ranking of the top 20 global M&A advisors, the number of transactions advised on by independent advisors has doubled in the last five years.

On the back of Catalyst’s rebranding, the move will see its partners join Alantra’s global M&A advisory business, while taking a shareholding in the listed group along with the firms directors. Alantra will hope to increase its footprint in London via the deal, benefitting from the global reach of Europe’s financial capital. Through the combination, Catalyst will draw on Alantra's team of 400 professionals based around the globe, delivering a full range of services to UK clients, including M&A, Debt and Equity Capital Markets capability.
 
Catalyst’s Managing Partner, Andy Currie, said, "In combining with Alantra, our goal is to build one of the world’s leading mid-market advisory firms and we look forward to capitalising on this momentum as we drive forward the UK arm of the group… As a result of the merger, we will be in the best possible position to meet the increasingly international needs of our clients, providing them with access to deep sector specialism, a global partnership and a broad, integrated product offering.”

Santiago Eguidazu, Executive Chairman at Alantra, added, "The UK is the most important M&A market in Europe and, as such, for a number of years we have had the strategic target to strengthen our M&A and debt presence in the country."