February 22, 2022
50 years ago, in 1972, the great Watergate scandal kicked off in the US, chess maverick Bobby Fischer beat Russian grandmaster Boris Spassky, and Dr Roland Schucht founded a small Swiss cross-border M&A firm he named Translink Corporate Finance. Five decades on and Dr Schucht’s dream has grown into a truly global organisation that can proudly count itself as one of the leading firms in its class.
We get the deal done.
We now have over 200 finance experts, across 36 countries, on six continents.
Our scale, reach and local knowledge is our critical differentiator, along with our formidable footprint. There is no part of the globe we are unfamiliar with. We use our collective intellectual capital and deep, local, specialist sector knowledge to support our clients wherever and whenever they need us.
Closing the deal(s):
In a year characterised by the lingering tumults of a global pandemic, we managed to produce one of our best years on record. In 2021, our total transactions increased by 60% in comparison to 2020. We completed 136 transactions – a whopping 54 more than we did the previous year.
Chairperson of Translink International and partner at Translink Finland Tero Nummenpää said, “We’ve always prided ourselves on being an organisation that puts the client at the front of everything we do. It has been impressive to see how hard our teams across the world worked, resulting in positive outcomes for our clients.”
Making a big deal of things:
2021 saw a boom in M&A activity across the board. While we treat every deal with the same amount of dedication and significance, there were three deals that stood out.
Auntie looks to go global:
In a deal worth over €10 million, we paired the rapidly expanding Finnish mental well-being service provider Auntie with Swedish investment firm Verdane. The deal will help fast track Auntie’s international expansion efforts.
Auntie provides unique low-threshold preventive psychological support services to corporate employees in over 300 pioneering organisations, across Scandinavia and Europe. In the last two years, the company grew by a phenomenal rate of around 200% year-on-year.
For us, helping Auntie reach their expansion goals was not simply an exercise in closing a deal, it was part of a greater mission to give people improved access to mental well-being services.
Staying ahead of the game:
Operating primarily in Finland, Sweden, Belgium, the DACH region and the US, sales of IP-Agency’s branded sports and leisure products have skyrocket by 600% over the past two years to €19 million. It has an EBITDA margin of over 25% and its various webstores receive about 900 000 hits each month.
With financials like these, IP-Agency was always going to have a surplus of suitors. Finding the right one, however, was a job that required a discerning eye and a level of expertise that we stepped in to provide. With finesse, diligence and care, our Finnish team stewarded the BHG Group’s 51% acquisition of IP-Agency.
With a target turnover of $20 million and a bright future ahead, this transaction epitomised our commitment to securing the best possible outcomes for our clients.
IP-Agency CEO Jouki Puurtinen said, “I am very pleased with the assistance provided by Translink and the resulting transaction. Without Translink, we probably would not have achieved such a mutually beneficial arrangement with BHG Group. This will enable us to continue to grow rapidly on both existing and new markets.”
Clear line of sight for growth:
In a deal with a combined value of more than €250 million, the Translink offices in Germany and Spain, advised Fielmann, a German listed family business and a leading producer and marketer of prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses and additional optical supplies, on the acquisition of 80% of Óptica del Penedés (Óptica Universitaria), the third largest optical retail chain in Spain. The transaction is an important step for Fielmann in its European expansion strategy and accelerates the growth of Óptica Universitaria in its long-term plan to sell more than 800 000 glasses a year within the Spanish market.
Partner at Translink Germany and Translink International board member Andreas Hüchting said, “The European eyewear market is undergoing major change. We are proud to have served Fielmann AG in this significant acquisition, which strengthens its European footprint. The timing was perfect and the cooperation between buyer and seller highly professional and fair. This project followed the proven ‘Buy Side Path to Success’ approach, developed by Translink over the past 50 years. It saw our German and Spanish teams work together to share decades of buy side experience – testament to our close partnerships across Translink globally.”
Hives of activity:
Here’s a summary of our top 3 sectors according to deals done:
Industrials (35)
Health (31)
IT (27)
Global reach with specialised local expertise:
We pride ourselves on attracting and rewarding the best talent that the world has to offer. With that in mind, we are proud to announce that Matteo Paggi has been appointed as Translink Italy’s new Managing Partner. David Strempel – who founded and led Translink in Italy over the last decade and retains the role of Chairman of the Italian office – took this decision, together with the company’s board, after identifying Matteo as the perfect person to steward the Italian office through its big growth phase.
“Integrity, independence and transparency in our ideas and in our actions – this is the way we work, always putting our clients’ interests first. Matteo’s work ethic, vision and passion align with those ideas perfectly. This is how we know we could not have picked anyone better for the job,” said Strempel.
Translink also welcomed the addition of an office in Israel during 2021, further expanding our extensive reach; we’re now in 36 countries. Led by co-CEOs Doron Ephrati and Hilit Ben-Zvi Koren, Head-On Business & Marketing Navigation Ltd. is now a member of the Translink group. M&A in Israel is an interesting and growing market and, with more than 300 M&A transactions with a total valuation exceeding € 20 billion per annum, exciting opportunities await.
50 years and counting:
In a year that saw a flurry of activity for small and mid-market M&A firms, we continued to distinguish ourselves as one of the top performing organisations in the Refinitiv rankings. In the mid-market and small-cap category, Translink ranked 7th and 6th respectively in the Nordics, 15th and 14th respectively in Japan, and 23rd and 19th respectively in Europe.
Nummenpää concluded, “Last year, we proved to the world and ourselves that our ethos and values are fundamental to our success. By allowing these to be our north star and taking advantage of the exceptional skills at our disposal, there is no limit to the heights we can continue to scale. If this is what we have managed to achieve in 50 years, there is no telling what we can achieve in the next 50.”
