Clairfield International welcomes Equita and consolidates its role among the top 5 M&A advisors in Italy

By partnering with Clairfield, Equita boosts its position in the European market and significantly improves its ability to execute crossborder M&A transactions. 

Equita ranked No. 5 by number of deals and No. 2 by value in mergermarket’s Italian M&A rankings for the first nine months of 2020.

Clairfield International, a global partnership of corporate finance boutiques, and Equita, the leading independent investment bank in Italy listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, announce that Equita has joined Clairfield International.

Thanks to the partnership with Clairfield, Equita’s investment banking team ranked 5th by number of deals and 2nd by value in Italian M&A rankings for the first nine months of 2020 (15 deals and Euro 16 billion respectively, on a pro-forma basis. Source: Mergermarket). Equita also ranked 1st among Italian advisors, assisting clients in large deals such as Intesa Sanpaolo in the acquisition of UBI Banca or TIM in the sale of a minority stake in FiberCop to KKR, in addition to several clients in mid-market transactions including Business Integration Partners (assisted by Equita) in the acquisition of the British group Chaucer and the Italian company Negri Bossi (assisted by Equita K Finance) in the sale of a majority stake to the Japanese group Nissei Plastic Industrial. Earlier this year – following the acquisition of Equita K Finance – the investment banking team became the largest independent team in Italy with more than 45 professionals.  

By entering the Clairfield partnership and gaining access to its partners’ sector expertise, Equita strengthens its ability to successfully execute crossborder M&A transactions, benefitting corporates, institutions, and private equity clients with which the Group collaborates daily. 

Clairfield was founded in 2005 by five European M&A advisory boutiques – including K Finance (now Equita K Finance) – and serves clients through 35 offices in more than 20 countries across Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific area. With more than 300 corporate finance professionals and industry experts, Clairfield focuses on the middle-market segment, designing and executing M&A and Corporate Finance transactions of generally up to EUR 500 million for corporates, private investors, private equity funds, public institutions and family-owned businesses.  

Clairfield is today one of the leading independent global corporate finance firms and among the top 10 financial advisors in the European M&A mid-market rankings (source: Refinitiv), with more than 139 deals closed in 2019 (EUR 3.2 billion in aggregate). 

“By joining Clairfield International, we are sharing our core M&A advisory capabilities with highly-specialized corporate finance professionals, strengthening our ability to advise clients in crossborder transactions,” says Andrea Vismara, CEO of Equita. “Today, Equita is ranked among the top 5 M&A advisors in Italy, an important achievement that has been possible thanks to the continuous growth of the investment banking division and the team’s excellent track record in assisting clients.

“We welcome even greater reach in the Italian market with such a prestigious partner as Equita. The Equita/K Finance team makes a perfect fit as a top-rated M&A advisory firm in Italy with the international reach Clairfield provides,” says Alexander Klemm, executive chairman of Clairfield International. “We also look forward to expanding our client offering through the expertise of Equita in debt advisory and capital solutions, equity capital markets, and asset management.”