Case Study
Identifying potential buyers for a European optical equipment firm
Buyer identification | Merger & acquisition support | Rumoured deals
Business need
- As part of a sell-side mandate for an optical equipment firm, a leading European corporate finance firm sought specialised buyer identification support.
- The optical equipment firm wanted to sell off one of its non-core segments and identify potential international buyers in Europe.
- The investment mandate was to explore financial buyers who would prefer to invest in companies with revenue between £1 million – £50 million and strategic buyers engaged in the manufacture of optical components, such as graticules and reticles.
To identify high-potential international manufacturers of optical components.
The client outlined two key reasons for selecting RocSearch:
- Our ability to deploy an experienced and highly pedigreed investment advisory team with a wide exposure to the European markets.
- Our unique RocEye buyer identification approach that has a proven track record of identifying qualified buyers for niche opportunities.
Approach and Methodology
- Our investment advisory team leveraged an ecosystem of sources, including subscription databases, industry associations, events & conferences and company websites, to build an exhaustive list of more than 1,200 potential buyers, which was then screened for relevance. As part of the exercise, we assessed precedent global merger and acquisition transactions from the previous five years in the category.
RocSearch used its proprietary RocEye buyer identification approach to screen and shortlist nearly 100 potential buyers matching the client’s criteria.
- Based on the client’s specification, we identified strategic buyers with revenue from £5 million – £100 million, engaged in manufacturing reticles, graticules, coatings, glass products and microscopy instruments.
- We also identified financial buyers who would prefer to invest in companies with revenue between £1 million – £50 million.
- We scanned the last six months of rumoured transactions to identify companies or private equity firms with plans to grow in the segment.
Business Outcomes
- The study provided a curated list of nearly 100 potential buyers, comprising both strategic and financial investors meeting the client’s criteria.
- Within three months, the non-core optical equipment division was acquired in a multimillion-dollar deal.
Within three months, the non-core optical equipment division was acquired in a multimillion-dollar deal.
