Each month, we present you with a selection of M&A transactions that allow you to decipher industry trends. Here are the transactions we have selected for March:
- Cinven, a British investment fund, acquired a majority stake in Alter Domus, valuing the company at €4.9 billion. Founded in Luxembourg in 2023 as a spin-off from PwC, Alter Domus is one of the world’s leading providers of investment fund administration services, with 5,000 employees and over €2,300 billion in assets under administration. The Permira fund, present in the capital since 2017, and the founders will retain a stake in the company.
- Accenture has completed the acquisition of Arhs Group, a Luxembourg-based consulting firm specializing in the digitalization of the public sector in Europe, with annual sales in excess of €300 million. With this transaction, the American consulting firm strengthens its position in Europe.
- ArcelorMittal acquires a 27.5% stake in Vallourec (sales €5.1 billion), a company listed on Euronext Paris. For €955 million, the Luxembourg-based steel group has bought out the stake held by the American fund Apollo and become the new reference shareholder in Vallourec, a French manufacturer specializing in steel tubular products. The transaction was carried out at close to market value, with a multiple of 3.9x EBITDA, and paves the way for a full acquisition in the next few years.
- CMA CGM finalized the acquisition of Altice Media (€362 million sales), the parent company of the French TV channels BFM and RMC, for €1.6 billion. This acquisition is in line with the diversification strategy of the French shipowner, which had already acquired Bolloré Logistics last February. The acquisition strengthens the group’s Media Division, which includes the newspapers La Provence and La Tribune.
- Siparex, a French fund, takes a minority stake in Rumeur Publique, a Paris-based communications agency with sales close to €15 million. Siparex’s investment of between €3 and 5 million gives it a stake of almost 30%, and values the company at around 8 times its EBITDA.
- Lakeland Dairies, an Irish dairy cooperative (€1.9 billion in sales) acquires Group De Brandt, a Belgian butter manufacturer and distributor, with sales of €324 million in 2023.
- Blackstone invested $750 million in US biotech Moderna, with sales of $6.8 billion, for its messenger RNA flu vaccine. The Life Sciences division of the US investment fund will participate in the commercialization of the first flu vaccine of this type, scheduled for 2024. Moderna, which is developing 28 messenger RNA vaccines, plans to spend $4.5 billion on R&D this year.
Sources: S&P Capital IQ Pro, Capital Finance, Paperjam, L’Echo, Les Echos
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