Join Mergermarket for the decisive outlook on M&A in 2021
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The pandemic brought dealmaking to a halt for much of 2020. But there are signs of a recovery and a new report by Ansarada and Acuris reveals optimism is growing for 2021.
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GMT Timezone
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08:40
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08:45
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Innovation
Many industries were already facing huge changes. The pandemic was the catalyst to accelerate that transformation, causing companies to adapt their footprint and futureproof strategy. The trend for technology M&A seen in recent years continued in 2020, with the reliance upon the digital economy shaping consumer habits for years to come.
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09:00
(It’s not just a) vaccine development
Investors are accessing ancillary technologies as investment opportunities as a multitude of global drug developers deploy funds into the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. Such technologies will not only address COVID-19 but will also have a major role to play in future pandemics. Ancillary technologies include therapeutics that address comorbidities in patients who have contracted the virus, genomic tools for testing, diagnostic tools and logistics and supply chain management.
Beyond COVID-19, companies with genomic capabilities, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or next generation sequencing (NGS), can facilitate in quickly decoding the genetic building blocks of new viruses and not only detect infections, but also facilitate mRNA-based vaccine development.
Therapeutics for patients who contract the virus and have existing comorbidities are garnering investor interest. Healthcare systems are primarily looking for antivirals or therapeutics that help modulate inflammation. Governments are inadequately prepared for global pandemics and there are not enough therapeutics that mitigate the severity and mortality of these diseases.
Companies operating in pharma logistics – such as drug manufacturing, packaging and distribution – are equally expected to attract substantial investor interest as administering a vaccine to billions will not be easy. -
09:40
Health and fitness ecommerce heats up
Health and fitness brands have accelerated digital offers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers look to sweat outside the gym. Valuations of Gymshark, Sweaty Betty and Lululemon Athletica have provided evidence of heated interested in the athleisure space. Lululemon’s acquisition of MIRROR expands their offering into high-end workout equipment providing a recurring revenue via digital subscriptions. Behavioural user data collected is also extremely valuable to advertisers. This keynote will explore the rise of digital health and fitness brands and their expansion plans.
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10:00
Uneven consumer sector recovery
Global consumer sector M&A is showing signs of an uneven post-COVID-19 recovery, with targets in lockdown-friendly niches meeting PE funds’ ample dry powder. On the other end of the spectrum, poor performers have seen their cash flows severely impacted by the pandemic and distressed situations will continue to be a significant catalyst for M&A in the months ahead.
Globally, the value of consumer-sector M&A hit a high of €448bn in 2015, then fell consecutively to €192bn last year with big-ticket deals drying up. However, modest signs of hope are apparent as lockdown eases. The high performers included producers of staple foods, certain beauty products and direct-to-consumer businesses. Recent strategic tie-ups in the food space have signalled more deals to come near the base of the supply chain.
Distressed subsectors, and therefore fertile ground of immediate M&A, include retail, travel and casual dining. Among the high-profile collapses include Hema, which was taken over by its creditors. Nearly all apparel-retail M&A tracked in 2020 involved a target being bought out of administration including SCP Private Equity’s purchase of TM Lewin, Bain Capital and Gordon Brothers Group’s acquisition of Laura Ashley and Cobepa and M80 Partners acquisition of Le Pain Quotidien.
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10:40
Networking
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11:00
Smart City and how AI is disrupting conventional industries resulting in growth in the Internet of Things sector
2019 saw a record year for M&A in the smart-home technology and Internet of Things (IoT) sectors. The trend is expected to continue after 2020; the year in which the home office became the ‘new normal’ as the population turned homebound as a result of lockdown restrictions and social distancing. Kitchen appliances turned out to be among one of the pandemic hot targets in the smart home space as DIY and home-made projects, particularly baking, gained ground during lockdown.
Real estate investors have also taken up the trend expanding portfolios to include smart-home technologies and ‘anything that touches real estate’. Investors point towards millennial and Generation Z consumption habits including the emphasis on intelligent and green household appliances.
The domestic consumer market has started showing signs of post-pandemic recovering with online sales of home appliances and cooking appliances increasing. Rising demands for comfort in household chores is accelerating household product replacement rate. Technology is a key driver of the change in consumption habits forcing traditional manufacturers to transform into providers of integrated smart home services. -
11:20
M&A tech in troubled times: how to use technology to improve insights and successful outcomes
One of the most dominant themes of recent months has been the advantage that technological savviness has afford companies facing distancing measures. Tech eases the deal process in troubled times as the way M&A transactions are conducted. Technology is key to help mitigate time lags in deal prep and will be the number one biggest contributor to more efficient deal making in 2021.
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Globalisation
Global supply chain disruption was highlighted in the onset of the pandemic. The disruption caused to manufacturing supply chains prompted a re-think of where future capital investment should be located. Logistics businesses have been an essential component to the at-home economy. Governments retrenched to safeguard domestic employment, with more stringent reviews of foreign investment coming.
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12:00
Cross-border M&A and FDI outlook
Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flow had an economic fallout from COVID-19. Lockdowns around the world and geopolitical events slowed existing investment projects and the possibilities of a recession led multinational businesses to revaluate new projects. M&A activity in the middle of 2020 was also subdued, but corporates and sponsors alike spent their way through the crisis in the fourth quarter. However, cross-border deal activity saw an overall 14.2% decline compared to 2019. Also, in Europe the pandemic has prompted EU member states to tighten their foreign direct investment (FDI) provisions in 2020 and to propose or create new regimes. This fireside chat will examine the trends that may kickstart or further stall cross-border M&A deal activity.
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13:00
Midday break
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14:00
Big Tech M&A
The acceleration of the digital economy is forcing dealmakers and companies to rethink strategy and will fuel M&A activity. For the tech industry, the US presidential and general elections place focus on Tech M&A. Tax policy has already shaped M&A and looks set to continue to do so with regulatory policy putting Big Tech in the crosshairs.
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14:40
Understanding the UK’s new FDI bill
The UK’s FDI bill consultation period has received concerned responses that the Investment Bill will seek to narrow the proposed sector definitions. There are also concerns that a new agency within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) tasked with policing the regime will be inundated with deal cases.
The UK government has identified 17 ‘core sectors’, in which completing a deal subject to mandatory notification before clearance is given will risk a penalty of 5% of worldwide turnover, or £10m, whichever is higher. The same maximum applies to failure to comply with an interim or final order under the regime.
Adding new, broad sectors has the potential to extend the reach of FDI screening considerably. Uncertainty over the sector boundaries and timetable could also deter investors. This session will explore the how the new bill will affect the attractiveness of the UK to investors. -
15:00
Investment delivered in transportation and logistics
Stay-at-home orders and distancing measures pushed millions of peoples to order their food, groceries, and medicine online. The e-commerce boom led to an unprecedented surge in the demand for last-mile delivery serviced. Start-ups specialised in delivering goods purchased to shoppers’ homes, including online logistics marketplaces that connect shippers with independent drivers, are seizing the moment to raise tens of millions in fresh capital. This trend is particularly prevalent in Latin America
On the other side of the coin, in the trucking industry, many companies struggled and will need to restructure to avoid bankruptcy, which could lead to merger opportunities. The shipping sector also took a dive at the beginning of the year, but as a sector accustomed to navigating stormy weather, it looks to be stabilising as demand for raw materials has boosted economic activity.
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15:20
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15:55
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16:00
At Home HIIT
Take a break from your desk to join a 45-minute resistance session hosted by a personal trainer.
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GMT Timezone
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08:00
5K virtual M&A mileage
Join our Strava group to take part in a global dealmakers 5k walk, jog or run.
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08:45
Chair's opening remarks
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Sustainability
The UK will host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in November 2021. Dozens of world leaders will attend to in the most important round of talks since the global Paris Agreement to tackle climate change was secured in 2015. Sustainability has climbed higher on the agendas of boards and management creating a sharpened focus on sustainability in M&A as it is increasingly seen as a question of value-generating business development.
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09:00
Environmental legislation – where are we now?
Environmental issues can significantly affect the valuation of a deal for a prospective buyer. Key planned environmental changes and environmental compliance will affect businesses who will need to evaluate compliance and obligations associated with single-use plastics, decarbonisation in packaging and recycling. How will industries support the Net Zero ambition?
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09:20
The energy transition
The unstoppable pressure of ESG and climate concerns is transforming all parts of the commodities value chain, from electricity supply to raw material extraction. Oil and gas has been the hardest hit sector due to the oil price crash in early March 2020, but not wholly due to the pandemic.
The more far-reaching theme of how to negotiate the energy transition and remain attractive to ESG conscious investors has put pressure on smaller listed players who may need to merge? Private equity-backed companies will need to redefine exit strategies, while the oil majors will seek to diversify from oil. The industry is increasingly committed to meeting climate change targets and this is firmly on the agenda as the economy recovers.
Power and utilities has fared better than oil and gas, acting a relative haven. Renewable deals have experienced a fairly limited impact during the pandemic as COVID-19 provided a unique opportunity to accelerate the energy transition. -
10:00
Autonomous vehicle deals
First came the cars, then came the components and underlying technologies that make them move. There has been a stampede of electrical vehicle-related business deals with expectations that EVs will replace cars and trucks that run on fossil fuels. However, the structuring of these deals has been a bumpy ride with many choosing the public markets with varying levels of success.
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10:40
Networking
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11:00
Recycle revolution
In June 2020, Amazon announced the $2bn Climate Pledge Fund to support the development of sustainable and decarbonising technologies and services that will enable Amazon and other companies to meet the goals set by The Climate Pledge. JB Straubel, co-founder of Tesla, has received funding for Redwood Materials, a mineral and phone batteries recycler.
The funding comes as M&A in the recycling market is expected to heat up, but concerns that the industry needs to be consistent as well as profitable may dampen investor interest. Regulation compelling the use of recycled plastic is high on the mind of several mid-sized companies; some of which argue that it would help make plastic recycling more profitable. How can high investor interest turn to investors putting their money into plastic recycling? -
11:20
Airline M&A
Airlines were hard hit in 2020 with many country borders closing from April to June due to travel restrictions. The sector is unlikely to recover until a vaccine in produced and distributed. The few sales that were afoot before the crisis have been put on hold until better times. Large players could mop up distressed assets, but rescue efforts are more likely than mergers, as even the bigger players are struggling, with the problem exacerbated by the second spike in COVID-19.
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11:40
100 Black Interns
Diversity and inclusion initiatives are transforming the M&A industry, but in a recent study, 88% of respondents felt that their industry is poorly represented with women and people of colour. Diversity and inclusion have proven to increase financials, bring more diverse ideas to the table and attract more diverse job candidates. Despite these benefits, surveys show that investors are still not directing their goals towards racial or gender diversity.
#100blackinterns seeks to change the face of investment management by offering internships to Black students across the UK to help kick start their career in investment management. 200 of the industry's leading players are participating as a way to source a more diverse group of talent for the long-term.
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12:20
Midday break
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Private Capital
The growth seen in private equity assets has been indicative of deal flow in recent years with sponsors able to raise and deploy capital into opportunities at a record rate. Expectations are for a more active role for private equity in the next M&A cycle. The pursuit of take-privates looks set to continue. Whether SPACs will arrive in Europe and redefine the IPO exit. Abundant liquidity in debt markets supplemented with private credit. Outlook for infrastructure M&A is positive especially around digital and logistics assets.
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13:20
Private equity outlook
Growth in private equity has been indicative of deal flow in recent years. Sponsors swiftly made-up lost ground at the end of 2020 after the global pandemic caused M&A markets to plummet. Buyout funds sitting on dry powder claimed more than one-fifth of overall M&A activity gaining ground over strategic players. These trends contributed towards one of the biggest buyouts in history; Cinven and Advent’s EUR 17bn takeover of ThyssenKrupp’s elevator unit.
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14:00
Public-to-private
The trend of public-to-private transactions is not a recent one, but has grown in recent years. Although private markets were not unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic and in the short-term private equity firms focused on supporting their existing portfolio companies. But as global financial continue to feel the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recent fall in capital market valuations has made public companies an attractive prospect for private equity sponsors who are looking at their pipeline and to deploy their record levels of dry powder. Several take-private deals have completed in 2020 including the successful bid to buy Madrid-listed telecoms company Masmovil by private equity firms Cinven, KKR and Providence Equity Partners for €5bn.
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14:20
Networking
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15:00
Exits
Traditional PE exits have slowed significantly since March 2020. Hundreds of sponsor-backed companies preparing for imminent exit found themselves waiting: unable to exit, but with additional time to prepare. It’s expected that traditional leveraged buyouts will remain difficult with many taking more unusual steps to prepare to exit.
For some the exit route has included the use of special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) targets to help getting deals done across sectors, particularly in the US. SPAC deals have totalled $21.8bn so far in 2020, with $53.7bn in total announced deals which have not closed yet.
The impact of COVID-19 has given sponsors and advisors time to understand which strategies can help create value.
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16:00
Chair's closing remarks
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Lucinda has been in business journalism for over ten years. Lucinda has experience reporting on markets in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Prior to this post, Lucinda was deputy editor for Dealreporter Asia based in the Hong Kong office and reported on corporate events in Japan and Australia. She also headed up Dealreporter's convertible bond coverage in Europe and Asia. Lucinda's team provides intelligence for the equity and fixed income markets that is tailored to hedge funds, proprietary trading desks, security lending, ECM syndicate desks and institutional fund managers.
Anna Juricic is an Executive Coach and leadership trainer for many international and public organisations. She has worked with individuals, professionals, and teams for over twenty years to facilitate a personal and professional evolutionary path through challenges and changes.
Leveraging emotional intelligence, Anna uses her coaching skills to maximise the potential of individuals partnering with clients to achieve a higher vision and better define therir strategies through rapid changes.
Anna is an expert in the field of Mindfulness applied to business in support of making decision process and to avoid burnout. She is also an expert in Effective and Non-Verbal Communication, Agile and its benefits within the business field.
A degree in Sociology and an International Master at SDA Bocconi School of Managment structures her well-rounded profile on Management of International Organisations; she is a Certified Coach and member of the ICF adhering to its ethic and code of conduct.
As Ambassador for Gender Equality for SDA Bocconi, Anna provides pro-bono coaching to leaders of international humanitarian organizations. She has created a coaching program to empower women and has worked with groups of female leaders within the United Nations and in the European Commission.
Ingrid is a medical doctor and investment professional with background in healthcare, consumer goods and technology. She is founder and managing partner of Hadean Ventures, a European life science fund manager. Prior to starting Hadean Ventures, Ingrid served as a senior investment professional at London-based Inventages. As a medical doctor, Ingrid worked within general medicine and surgery, with exposure to both the public and private sector. Ingrid holds a medical degree from Medizinische Hochschule Hannover,Germany, and an MBA with Finance Concentration from London Business School.
Mintoi has covered the healthcare sector for over 13 years and is healthcare editor at ACURIS. She covers pharma, biotech and medtech and has a range of experience leading on live situations, origination and market analysis.
Andreas Bösenberg has been active in the international private equity industry for more than 20 years. He started his career at 3i. Since 2000 he was responsible for leading and setting up various private equity investment teams in the small-mid market segment and was jointly responsible for over Euro 2bn of invested capital in Europe. Also, he successfully assisted many portfolio companies during their transformation and growth phase and exited several of them in international IPOs and trade sales. In May 2018 Andreas was appointed as managing director of NORD Holding an asset manager with over 2bn Euro of AUM where he focuses on transformational investments in the German speaking region with a sector specific sourcing approach.
Dr Min is one of the world's leading authorities on AI who brings a wealth of first class experience to his talks.
Between 2013 & 2018 Dr Wanlin Min was the Chief Machine Intelligence Scientist at Alibaba Group where he started to lead the project to develop “Ai”. Prior to Alibaba, he had taken research role at IBM T. J. Watson Research Centre and held the senior statistician role at Google.
In 2017, Forbes recently cited him as “One of the World’s top AI Leaders” and last year he spoke at the prestigious Mobile World Congress.
After accumulating extensive experience in digital transformation of traditional industries, Dr Min founded North Summit Capital which focusses on a new investing philosophy of technology consulting plus financial investment.
As one of its AI leaders, Dr. Min devotes himself to attain the vision of advancing inclusive technology for social good, through accelerating digital transformation of the traditional industries and combining AI intelligence with traditional sectors, specifically in manufacturing, agriculture and healthcare.
He graduated from his bachelor and started to pursue master in Physics at the age of 19 and then received his Ph.D in Statistics from The University of Chicago in 2004.
Dr. Min holds a number of patents in his research interests including probability theory, stochastic process, time series analysis and network flow dynamics. His research on traffic flow estimate in 2011 had been widely cited. He also made contribution to smart cities development in New York, Singapore and Sweden.
Timo Tauber is Head of M&A at theViessmann Group. The Viessmann Group is one of the leading internationalmanufacturers of heating and cooling systems. Founded in 1917, the familybusiness maintains a staff of approximately 12,000 employees and generates EUR2.4bn in annual group revenue. With 23 production companies in 12 countries,subsidiaries and representations in 74 countries and 120 sales offices aroundthe world, Viessmann is an internationally orientated company.
Prior to joining Viessmann, Mr. Tauber workedfor 5 years in Private Equity, as Investment Manager for Brockhaus PrivateEquity and for 5 years as an M&A Consultant for Rödl & Partner Groupadvising on small and midcap transactions in the DACH region.
Emma-Victoria reports on M&A activity in the DACH region for Mergermarket. Previously she has worked for Bloomberg in Frankfurt, The Daily Telegraph in London, Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa) in Berlin, and Falter Verlag in Vienna. She has a Masters in German Literature from Oxford University.
Francesca heads merger control coverage for Mergermarket publications Policy and Regulatory Report (PaRR) and Dealreporter out of the Brussels bureau.
In her role she coordinates coverage and reports on regulatory risk associated to major global M&A. She also reports on other EU and national competition law and policy developments.
Francesca has 12 years' experience in media from both the journalism and public relations side, gained in Milan and Brussels.
A graduate of the College of Europe, she has an in-depth knowledge of EU affairs, from both an academic and practical day-to-day perspective.
Jeremy is the Editor and Brussels Bureau Chief at the Public and Regulatory Report (PaRR). With a decade of experience covering Brussels legal and political scene, Jeremy is a journalist with roots working as a solicitor in the City of London.
Jeremy returned to legal sector journalism at PaRR from EurActiv, where he covered finance, trade and tech regulatory issues at the multilingual on-line news site. After working as a corporate litigator with Travers Smith Braithwaite, Jeremy became City correspondent for the Law Society Gazette. In 2005, he set up European Lawyer magazine’s Brussels bureau, and has covered regulatory and political issues affecting trade and competition freelance for Europolitics, the UK Press Association, Financial Times and Strategic Risk magazine.
Pablo is Global Head Mergers + Acquisitions with Kuehne + Nagel, one of the world's leading logistics providers with more than 80,000 employees and a footprint of 1,300 offices in over 100 countries. Kuehne + Nagel completes around 3-5 acquisitions per year globally. Prior to joining Kuehne + Nagel, Pablo was an M&A advisor with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Switzerland and Australia. Pablo holds a Master of Arts in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Banking & Finance from the University of Zurich and has passed all CFA exams.
Anna Juricic is an Executive Coach and leadership trainer for many international and public organisations. She has worked with individuals, professionals, and teams for over twenty years to facilitate a personal and professional evolutionary path through challenges and changes.
Leveraging emotional intelligence, Anna uses her coaching skills to maximise the potential of individuals partnering with clients to achieve a higher vision and better define therir strategies through rapid changes.
Anna is an expert in the field of Mindfulness applied to business in support of making decision process and to avoid burnout. She is also an expert in Effective and Non-Verbal Communication, Agile and its benefits within the business field.
A degree in Sociology and an International Master at SDA Bocconi School of Managment structures her well-rounded profile on Management of International Organisations; she is a Certified Coach and member of the ICF adhering to its ethic and code of conduct.
As Ambassador for Gender Equality for SDA Bocconi, Anna provides pro-bono coaching to leaders of international humanitarian organizations. She has created a coaching program to empower women and has worked with groups of female leaders within the United Nations and in the European Commission.
Lucinda has been in business journalism for over ten years. Lucinda has experience reporting on markets in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Prior to this post, Lucinda was deputy editor for Dealreporter Asia based in the Hong Kong office and reported on corporate events in Japan and Australia. She also headed up Dealreporter's convertible bond coverage in Europe and Asia. Lucinda's team provides intelligence for the equity and fixed income markets that is tailored to hedge funds, proprietary trading desks, security lending, ECM syndicate desks and institutional fund managers.
Mrs Torborg Chetkovich, BSc Business Administration and Economics at Uppsala University and MBA at IMD Lausanne, has over 25 years of experience from leading positions within the transport, real estate and infrastructure sector.
During the years her main focus has been to successfully increase profitability and create share-holder value through in-depth turn-arounds in complex environments involving many stake holders, always with the customer needs in focus for the company and employees to act upon.
She began her career at Swedish State Railways between 1991 – 1999, before moving on to Veolia Transport, at the time Sweden´s largest passenger transportation company, as Transport Director. During 2006 - 2008 she served as Deputy CEO at Veolia Transport Sweden. 2008 she took the position as CEO for MTR Nordic and won their first contract in the region being the tender of the metro operations in Stockholm (contract worth 30 billion SEK). In only 9 months she built up the new company and delivered a successful takeover of the metro operations. Between 2010 - 2015 Mrs. Chetkovich served as Group CEO at Swedavia, a company established 2010 operating ten climate neutral airports across Sweden, still focusing on customer and employee satisfaction, profitability and sustainability in order to secure competitive strength over time.
Mrs Chetkovich has served at several boards over time including Stockmann Plc, ACI (Airports Council International) Europe, Almega, MTR Nordic, Veolia Transport Sweden being some of the examples. She has also served as Industrial Advisor for EQT Partners / EQT AB but also as Independent Advisor to owners, boards and management teams.
Currently she is a Partner at CapMan Infra, part of the CapMan Group. She holds the position as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in Sweden , Acting Chairperson at Norled AS and Board member of Center for Higher Ambition Leadership Europe.
Mrs Chetkovich has successfully developed large organizations over more than 25 years and have a strong interest in leadership and is also acting as a mentor since several years in official mentor programs.
Øyvind has long experience within Mergers & Acquisitions, and acts for numerous Norwegian and international private equity and venture capital firms, family offices, founders and private companies in M&A transactions within a broad range of industries.
Robin joined FSN Capital in 2018 and is based in our Munich office. Previously, he was with Apax Partners for more than 10 years, in Munich and London, where he worked on a large number of Digital-, Consumer- and Healthcare investments. During this time, Robin served on various boards. Prior to Apax, Robin worked with The Boston Consulting Group in Zurich in their Industrials - and Healthcare Team. Robin holds a MSc in Physics from ETH Zurich and an MBA from London Business School.
Emma-Victoria reports on M&A activity in the DACH region for Mergermarket. Previously she has worked for Bloomberg in Frankfurt, The Daily Telegraph in London, Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa) in Berlin, and Falter Verlag in Vienna. She has a Masters in German Literature from Oxford University.
Chandradev Mehta is currently Director, Mergers and Acquisitions at LyondellBasell Industries and is responsible for its M&A efforts globally. He has more than 12 years of experience in M&A and Corporate Development, across US and Asia and is currently responsible for overseeing LyondellBasell’s global acquisition and divestitures program. He has also been instrumental in developing of global acquisition processes, including integration and separation best practices, at LyondellBasell.
Chandradev has worked on number of buy and sell side M&A transactions, in energy and chemicals sectors, across United States, Europe and Asia. Prior to working at LyondellBasell, Chandradev worked with Citigroup for 9 years where he advised global chemicals companies on M&A and led the chemicals investment banking efforts for Citigroup in Asia. Additionally he has also worked with Honeywell International for 5 years, focused on engineering and project management for Oil & Gas, Refining and Chemical sector clients globally.
Chandradev earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from India and an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.
My name is Dawid Konotey-Ahulu; I am a mixed-race British Ghanaian, aged 57, the son of a Ghanaian doctor and an English nurse.
I qualified as a barrister in 1987 but switched careers to become an investment banker in the early 90s. I spent 16 years working at NatWest Capital Markets and Merrill Lynch, where I was responsible for the bank’s strategic solutions group in the UK and Scandinavia. In 2006, I left Merrill Lynch to co-found Redington, an investment consulting firm advising pension funds. Today, Redington is the 4th largest advisor to large defined benefit pension schemes in the United Kingdom. I remain a board director but have largely stepped away from the day-to-day running of the firm. In 2009, I also founded Mallowstreet, an online collaboration platform for the pensions industry. Mallowstreet runs conferences, summits and forums for pension fund trustees and asset managers with the aim of educating and informing the institutional pensions industry.
Both Mallowstreet and Redington now have their own chief executives and management teams. This has allowed me to focus on working with organisations that deliver social impact in areas that I care passionately about. Specifically, I am very involved with initiatives that improve the lives of Black people in the United Kingdom.
I am a Governor at the University of Hertfordshire which has a large ethnic minority student body. I also sit on the University’s Finance Committee. I am a patron of the EY Foundation which provides opportunities for young people who are bright and ambitious but who come from a disadvantaged background. I am a Trustee of the Chineke! Foundation which encourages and facilitates classical music amongst children and young people from the Black community. In 2015, I set up Spellbound, a training programme to teach young people, particularly from a Black background, the art of public speaking. I have since rolled it out amongst Black prisoners serving long sentences for serious crimes and I have spent a lot of time with prisoners at HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey, working to help them find their voice. I also sit on the Advisory Council of the Diversity Project, a platform to enable the asset management industry to give more opportunities to Black employees.
I am a member of the Court of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where I am currently engaged in helping to fundraise for the building and development of a new research facility. In 2018, I was named Black British Business Entrepreneur of the year. I am a Trustee of the Legacy of War Foundation, a charity set up to highlight and alleviate the plight of victims of conflict and war. I am also a Trustee on the Board of the Centre for Ageing Better where I also sit on the Finance Committee.
In August 2020, I co-founded 100 Black Interns, an initiative to find 100 asset management internships in Summer 2021 for Black undergraduates. This proved very successful (200 firms offered 250 internships) and in October 2020 we launched an expanded programme, 10000 Black Interns. This has already garnered 490 companies offering 1,000 internships.
Pia Kåll joined CapMan Buyout in 2016 as a partner and was designated managing partner in 2017. Before joining CapMan, Kåll was on the Executive Board of Outotec, where she was responsible for Strategy, M&A, Marketing and Operational Excellence. Previously she worked eight years at McKinsey&Company where she was an Associate Principal.
Nuala Higgins is responsible for Financial Sponsor Coverage at Carnegie Investment Bank. Nuala joined Carnegie's Stockholm office in 2011 and has a total of 15 years' experience in Financial Sponsor Coverage and Corporate Finance. Nuala spent 10 years in the City of London where from 2007 she focused on European Financial Sponsor Coverage, extensively covering European and Nordic private equity clients.
Nuala is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.
Joao Grando is Mergermarket’s Private Equity Editor, EMEA. He has been a journalist covering industrials and private equity-related M&A across Europe with Mergermarket since 2015.
Alessandra leads the editorial teams of Mergermarket, Dealreporter and Activistmonitor for public markets coverage across EMEA. Based in London, Alessandra is also focusing in identifying new content sets within the public markets. She has over 15 years of experience in financial journalism having covered large scale of M&A deals.
Alessandra joined Acuris in 2004 as a research analyst. Since then she has worked on both Mergermarket and Dealreporter editorial teams, first as Head of Italian coverage, then Deputy Editor and Editor of Dealreporter. Alessandra previously worked as a training lawyer for a Milan-based law firm.
She holds a degree in law from the Catholic University of Milan.
Karen is Chief Investment Officer at Beringea, responsible for making new investments and working with portfolio companies through to exit. Her investments have included Fnatic, Watchfinder, Thread, Blis, Monica Vinader, and MatsSoft amongst others.
Karen was previously with the Boston Consulting Group and ran the Watch division of Swiss Army/Wenger. She also has experience with start-ups as both a founder and advisor. Karen has lived and worked in the US, Europe, and Asia, and has an MBA from INSEAD and a BSBA from Boston University.