Rothschild rebrands Livingstone UK as Arrowpoint Advisory

Financial services giant Rothschild & Co has bought the UK arm of M&A advisory firm Livingstone for an undisclosed fee. The move follows Rothschild’s purchase of a minority stake in equity advisory company Reburn, as the European finance player looks to consolidate its position in a competitive market.

With deal activity at a high in the UK, in the slipstream of Europe’s hot market for mergers & acquisitions (M&A), companies are increasingly turning to external dealmakers to bring their deals to a successful close. In this attractive investment environment, those at the top-table of the continent’s banking scene have been looking to snap up new challengers as a means to consolidating their positions, while better benefitting from the M&A market external dealmakers are thriving from.

With a team of 3,500 financial services specialists on the ground in over 40 countries across the world, Rothschild & Co delivers a unique global perspective across three market-leading business divisions: merchant banking, wealth and asset management and global advisory.

The firm is controlled by the French and British branches of the Rothschild family, and is headquartered in London, where it has been looking to consolidate its position in the ultra-competitive financial marketplace – something made easier by the fact regulatory pressures have pushed smaller companies to consolidate with larger players.

Recently this saw Rothschild secure the acquisition in of a minority stake in equity research firm Redburn in July 2019. Building on that earlier purchase, Rothschild has now completed a deal for Livingstone UK. As one of the UK’s most successful M&A, debt advisory and special situations advisors in its market, the British wing of Livingstone has a team of 35 bankers and a track record of over 650 completed transactions.

Following the deal, which was confirmed in December, Livingstone’s UK arm will rebrand as Arrowpoint Advisory, and as part of the Rothschild & Co group, it becomes one of the largest financial advisors in the market, with access to the group’s comprehensive sector expertise and offices in over 40 countries. Livingstone’s remaining 85 team members outside the UK will continue to operate independently in all other geographies, working from six offices in Beijing, Chicago, Dusseldorf, Los Angeles, Madrid and Stockholm.

Arrowpoint Advisory’s Managing Director, Jeremy Furniss said, “Our entire team is excited at the potential for growing an already successful business which we built together over 40 years. Our clients will benefit from full access to Rothschild & Co’s Global Advisory business and its international infrastructure and network.”