Mediobanca buys Arma Partners to boost tech advisory offer (updated)

Aareal Bank AG

18/05/2023 10:41

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      Arma is Europe's No.1 adviser to software buyouts
    

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      Mediobanca sees 30% boost to CIB revenues
    

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      To present new three-year business plan on Wednesday
    

  
 (Adds details on Arma's deals, Mediobanca's previous
acquisitions)
    By Valentina Za
       MILAN, May 18 (Reuters) - Mediobanca  MDBI.MI  said on
Thursday it had agreed to buy London-based Arma Partners, as
Italy's leading investment bank seeks to capture growing
corporate demand for advisory services on tech deals and expand
its international reach.
    The acquisition, which Mediobanca expects to boost its fee
income by 10%, comes ahead of a new three-year strategy CEO
Alberto Nagel will unveil on May 24.
    With a focus on software, cloud services, data and fintech,
Arma has advised on some 100 transactions over the past five
years worth in aggregate more than $85 billion. It ranks first
as an adviser on large European software buyouts.
    In 2020, it worked with U.S. private equity firm Hg as it
further invested in Visma, a Norwegian software provider which
was valued at $12.2 billion in the world's largest ever software
buyout.
    In the same year, it advised Germany's Aareal Bank  ARLG.DE 
on the sale of a stake in its $1.1 billion software unit Aareon
to Advent International. 
    In 2021, it was sole financial adviser to British digital
wealth manager Nutmeg on its $839 million sale to JPMorgan
 JPM.N .
    Mediobanca did not disclose the price of the transaction,
saying only it would pay 40% in cash at closing and stagger the
rest over four years based partly on Arma's performance.
    The remainder can be paid in Mediobanca shares, in which
case the transaction's full price would take around 30 basis
points off the bank's core capital ratio.
    The deal will boost earnings per share, based on last year's
figures, Mediobanca said, without elaborating.
    "This transaction ... will have a material impact on the
Corporate Investment Banking fees pool, increasing by
approximately 30%," it said.
        The acquisition, which needs clearing from European, UK
and U.S. regulators, is expected to close in the autumn.
    With 86 staff and some $100 million in yearly revenue, Arma
was founded in 2003 by Paul-Noël Guély, a former head of
software and services investment banking at Goldman Sachs.
    Arma has offices also in Munich, a U.S. presence and a
network of affiliated advisory firms in Japan, Australia,
Israel, Turkey and Brazil.
    To grow its international footprint, Mediobanca in 2019
acquired French M&A boutique Messiér et Associes and last year
hired former Santander and Lloyds top executive António
Horta-Osório as senior adviser.

 (Additional reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerquiero in London;
Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Potter)
 ((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;))