Blacktrace supports companies when making the transition to the next phase in their lifecycle. Our input is committed, lucid and pragmatic, relies on the expertise of our sector teams and utilizes our proven approach and knowledge of merger and acquisition transactions.

Most of the clients we work for face a major challenge. Some need assistance with attracting additional capital; others want to sell the company to a strategic or financial party. Or they want to achieve economies of scale by purchasing strategic parties and thereby strengthen their market position. We regularly help management teams arrange a management buy-out together with a private equity partner.

Clients typically turn to Blacktrace as an independent merger and acquisition transaction specialist when involved in the following situations:

• Focus on core activities: strengthening core business activities by acquiring market entities that are owned by private equity parties or other market players. Or selling non-core business activities to other market players, private equity parties or management teams;
• Growth of the company: attracting additional shareholder capital or loan capital in order to achieve growth objectives in existing and new markets;
• Scaling up: acquisition of and mergers with comparable market participants in order to strengthen their competitiveness;
• Strategic or personal reorientation: the sale of the company to strategic or financial parties (private equity firms);
• MBO: acquisition of the company by management teams with financial support provided by private equity firms;
• Corporate valuation: valueing businesses on behalf of buyers and sellers;
• Exit: selling parts of the portfolio of private equity firms.

Blacktrace is a pragmatic specialist. When we are awarded an order, we draw up a detailed action plan based on input from our client and provide a list of possible candidates. We successfully find and approach international purchasers or prospects via our extensive network and advanced search facilities.

At Blacktrace, we want to make a visible contribution to the value of the enterprises we deal with. This applies to both the purchaser and the seller. In practice however, negotiations can take an unexpected turn. We maintain a helicopter view of the proceedings and guide the parties towards a desirable result for all those concerned. We want to use our expertise to actively contribute to growth objectives in terms of enterprise value and (personal or fund) capital. We work exclusively for and on behalf of one single party when completing an assignment.