Mediobanca has entered into a strategic agreement with the shareholders of Arma Partners and US Arma Partners to strengthen within the scope of digital economy. Under the terms of the transaction, Mediobanca will acquire Arma to create a leading franchise in the Digital Economy within its Corporate & Investment Banking division.
What Arma Partners does
Founded in 2023, Arma Partners is a company of financial advice independent in Europe that deals with companies, investors and entrepreneurs active in the global Digital Economy, offers independent advice on Corporate Finance to Private Equity fund companies. Led by its founder and Managing Partner Paul-Noël Guély, Arma Partners now has 12 partners and 86 employees, including 69 bankers from over 26 countries. The company is particularly active in the Software sector, Cloud services, and in the Data, Internet and Fintech segments. Over the past five years, the Arma Partners team has acted as advisor beyond 100 operations, 75% of which are cross-border, for a total market value of over 85 billion dollarthe. Results that have allowed the company to establish itself among the leaders specialized in advisory in the European Digital Economy sector and to position itself as the first advisor in large software acquisitions in Europe.
“The partnership with Arma Partners will strengthen the advisory services offered by Mediobanca with distinctive expertise in the Tech area for the benefit of Corporate & Investment Banking and Wealth Management customers, as well as guaranteeing a wider territorial presence in Europe and the United States. This transaction is also consistent with the objective of orienting CIB's business model towards less capital-absorbing activities and will give a significant boost to the division's fees with growth of approximately 30%, a result which will contribute to an increase of more than 10 % Group commissions”, Mediobanca said in a note.
The details of the agreement
As established, Arma Partners will continue to be managed – as independent company within the Mediobanca group – by Paul-Noël Guély, who will work in close coordination with Francisco Bachiller and Giuseppe Baldelli, co-head of Global CIB.
Mediobanca will pay the consideration in cash, of which 40% in funds immediately available at closing. The remainder will be released over four years based on Arma's performance and can be paid in Mediobanca shares. The operation, subject to the authorization of the competent authorities, will have a estimated impact on the CET1 ratio Mediobanca by approximately 30bps on a 100% basis considering the deferred amount payable in shares. Based on last year's earnings, the transaction will be EPS accretive.
Negale: "We will become one of the main advisors of the Digital Economy"
“Mediobanca has significant experience of partnering with independent advisory firms characterized by solid fundamentals, strong management teams, well-known brands and scalable platforms” – he says Alberto Nagel, CEO of Mediobanca. “The agreement with Arma Partners reflects our ambition to build solid long-term growth by leveraging industrial trends, specialist skills and people's talent. We are convinced that Arma Partners' distinctive expertise, business complementarity and geographical presence are perfectly suited to our growth strategy and will position the Mediobanca Group among the main advisors in the Digital Economy sector at the service of entrepreneurs, investors, sector, CEO and founders of start-ups”, concludes Alberto Nagel.
“Arma Partners represents a unique opportunity for Mediobanca's CIB division to expand into the rapidly-developing sector of the Digital Economy, a trend that is impacting and transforming the business of all our clients. We are thrilled that Arma Partners will become one of the pillars of Mediobanca's CIB strategy” – they say Francisco Bachiller and Giuseppe Baldelli, co-Heads of Global CIB of Mediobanca.
“This partnership will enable Arma Partners to achieve its ambitious global expansion goals. Like us, Mediobanca boasts an illustrious experience in strategic and independent consultancy, as well as European roots combined with global ambitions” – he says Paul-Noël Guély, Managing Partner of Arma Partners.
