Alantra seeks to bolster US presence via buys, organic growth for advisory division - IB CEO

Speaking at the investment bank's newly established London headquarters, Hernández said that Alantra's growth push is part of its ambition to develop key hubs in markets where the firm has critical mass across its professional services and asset management businesses. The US will be a key priority in this effort, he said.

"Our plan is to rebalance the size of our investment bank between Europe and the US," he said. "The US is a very important market for us and we have a massive opportunity there. However, we are going to concentrate in five to seven sectors and gain critical mass in each of the sectors."

Growth, including via acquisitions, will be focused on firms that can deepen its sector expertise in existing sectors such as healthcare, real estate, industrials, consumer, technology and business services, he said.

There is potential to build additional hubs in the future, which would go towards complementing its existing presence in the UK, France, US, Germany, Spain and Italy, he said.

"The industry knows that we are a consolidator, so we get approached by a number of advisors or by the targets directly," he said.

Seizing opportunities
While acknowledging that the drop in deals across the market has also affected Alantra, which saw its investment banking revenue drop by 30% to EUR 145m in FY 22, Hernández said that this will not deter the firm's growth ambitions.

"We are affected as much as the industry has been affected - the first months of the year have not been good," he noted. In spite of this, the firm remains positive about the strong quality of deals in its pipeline, he added.

In fact, the slowing market means that Alantra, which he says is well-capitalised with a EUR 400m market cap and high levels of cash on its balance sheet, can use this opportunity to fund deals.

Now is also a good time for the firm to grow by hiring people and teams, he said. "There's a lot of good people in the market that have been laid off and they are looking for new opportunities," he said. "We are probably one of the few institutions that can offer opportunities."

Bolstering its growth ambitions, the firm announced the relocation of its investment banking unit headquarters in London last week as it looks to further interantionalise its business.

"We want to be a truly international company and that is helped by being in London, which is one of the most important financial centres in the world," he said. "Being based here helps us to have more visibility and access to investors."

Broader consolidation
Alantra's market consolidation push comes as many of its own clients are searching for advisors with deep subsector knowledge who can provide them with niche investment opportunities with strong potential returns, he said.

"You need to have critical mass and predictability in order to gain access to new businesses in the market," he said. "You need to grow so that you can accompany your clients in that in that growth. Our clients are asking for targets in Europe, in Asia, in the US, the Nordics and Europe, and we will need to cover many of them."

The investment bank has a track record of acquiring its peers, most recently in French tech advisor Avolta Partners last year, as well as the 2018 acquisition of KPMG's UK portfolio solutions group business, and the acquisition of UK peer Catalyst Corporate Finance in 2017. It has also made acquisitions in Latin America and the US previously.

Similarly, its alternatives asset management unit, which cover private equity and private debt, among other strategies, have made investments in private capital specialist AMCHOR Investment Strategies in 2021, and private debt Investor Indigo Capital in 2020, VC life sciences group Asabys in 2019, and fund manager Access Capital Partners in 2018.

Alantra's acquisitive hunt is part of a broader theme in the consolidation of the financial advisory market, including Italy-headquartered Mediobanca's acquisition of tech financial advisory firm Arma Partners, as well as Japan's Mizhuo acquiring US investment banking group Greenhill, among others.

[Editor's note: The headline has been amended post-publication to clarify that Miguel Hernández is the CEO of the investment banking division of Alantra.]

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