Livingstone ranked #1 M&A firm in Germany by WirtschaftsWoche

Livingstone has been ranked number one by WirtschaftsWoche, a Handelsblatt Media Group subsidiary, in its annual competition.

WirtschaftsWoche, represented by an advisory board and a top-class jury, ranks the best firms in a two-step process, judging firms using the categories “self-perception” and “customer perception.” The advisory board and jury place a heavy emphasis on customer service and benefits:

• Technical dimension: creativity, analytical contribution, methodic contribution, market, and industry knowledge
• Communication dimension: reputation, connections, presentation, team spirit, project management
• Reality effect: effect on operating result, feasibility, own implementation contribution, scope
• Customer satisfaction

Livingstone’s M&A work on behalf of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG, Frankfurt, was nominated for consideration in 2020. Livingstone consulted Deutsche Infrastruktur und Netzgesellschaft mbH, a portfolio company of DBAG, on a buy-and-build strategy for an infrastructure platform. The firm’s thoughtful consulting services, which resulted in an outstanding buy & build success story on DBAG’s behalf, ultimately won the top spot in the “Finance / Mergers & Acquisitions” category.

Christian Grandin, Managing Partner of Livingstone Partners GmbH, commented, “The “Best of Consulting” award from WirtschaftsWoche is a certification of excellence in the consulting industry. It is a great honor to receive this extraordinary award. We are pleased to be ranked number one for our services, developing a platform for DBAG.”

Only three months lay between the strategic decision to build out a new platform with Livingstone’s support in May 2019 and the successful signing of the first of five investments. Livingstone ran multiple parallel M&A processes, which resulted in a platform comprised of five acquired companies with a total turnover of EUR 150m and more than 700 employees in less than a year.

The management and implementation of parallel M&A processes were possible thanks to the close cooperation of DBAG representatives, the Livingstone deal team, legal advisors Bird & Bird and Latham & Watkins, and finance and accounting advisors Ebner Stolz, Alvarez & Marsal, and FGS.

Johannes Faber, Director at Livingstone, adds: “This award is especially significant because the client’s objective feedback is taken into account alongside the expert opinion of the top-class jury.  We thank our clients Ragnar Geerdts, responsible partner of DBAG, as well as Christoph Lüthe and Boris Grünke of Deutschen Infrastruktur und Netzgesellschaft mbH for their ongoing trust in our work.”

Livingstone is an international mid-market M&A and debt advisory firm with offices in Beijing, Chicago, Düsseldorf, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, and Stockholm. We have deep industry expertise, and extensive global coverage, with dedicated teams across our offices serving the Business & Technology Services, Healthcare, and Industrial segments and close an average 50+ transactions annually.

We are well-positioned to provide strategic advice and seamless transaction execution to private business owners, financial sponsors, and major corporations across Europe, North America, and Asia – and have defined ourselves as an investment bank you can trust during uncertain, unprecedented times.