21st January 2020
M&A League Tables for Communication: Hering Schuppener again in 1st place in Germany and Europe together with their strategic partners
January 21, 2020 – Hering Schuppener, Germany's leading strategic communications consultancy, and its strategic partners have once again achieved international top rankings in the M&A league tables by industry service provider Mergermarket in 2019. In total, the international communications experts accompanied 200 acquisitions and takeovers around the globe in 2019, 145 of them in Europe. This means that the global partnership with Finsbury, Hering Schuppener and GPG is placed number 3 by number of deals globally and number 1 in Europe. The total volume of European transactions managed amounted to around 123 billion US dollars (around 111 billion euros) and thus increased significantly in the second half of the year.

Dr. Phoebe Kebbel, Managing Partner of Hering Schuppener Consulting, said: “In 2019, the number of mega-deals in the market was significantly lower than in previous years – in Germany and internationally. The number of transactions in the market also declined slightly. We are therefore particularly pleased that we are even above the previous year in terms of the number of deals and are once again number 1. We have also retained our leading position in Europe.”
In Germany, Hering Schuppener has again achieved the top position in 2019 in terms of the number of accompanied transactions. In total, the teams of Hering Schuppener supported 50 transactions with German participation with an overall volume of over 42 billion US dollars (around 38 billion euros). The largest mandates included KKR in the public takeover offer for Axel Springer SE, OSRAM in the bidding war and ultimately the takeover by ams and Macquarie in the acquisition of the chemical park operator Currenta. Hering Schuppener thus leads the German M&A ranking for the 16th year in a row.
In addition, with TeamViewer and Traton, Hering Schuppener also accompanied the two largest IPOs in 2019. In total, only three companies took the plunge to the Prime Standard of Frankfurt stock exchanges last year, making 2019 the weakest year for IPOs in Germany since the global financial crisis.
Simon Steiner, Partner of Hering Schuppener Consulting, explained: “Geopolitical uncertainties and concerns about an economic slowdown in the past year have led many exciting stock market candidates to put their plans on hold. This IPO backlog should dissolve in 2020: From spin-offs of large corporations to private equity exits up to successful start-ups, we should welcome interesting new companies to the German stock market. The past years have shown that successful IPO candidates start telling important aspects of their equity story and a convincing growth strategy increasingly earlier before the actual transaction begins. This trend will continue and determine the communication strategies around an IPO.”
In the United Kingdom Finsbury, Hering Schuppener and GPG secured the second rank according to the total volume of transactions supported (around 52 billion US Dollars, around 47 billion euros). With 104 accompanied transactions, the strategic partnership is placed number 4 in terms of number of deals in the US-ranking. In Asia, the international communications experts of Finsbury, Hering Schuppener and GPG accompanied 25 transaction with a total amount of 30 billion US Dollars (around 27 billion euros) securing the second place both according to the number and value of deals.
Image Sept in France, Llorente & Cuenca (LLYC) in Spain and Fogel & Partners in the Nordics also impressed with excellent results. In 2019, Image Sept managed 71 transactions with a total value of 40 billion US dollars (around 36 billion euros), taking the first place in France. LLYC secured the second place in the Spanish M&A ranking with 18 deals and Fogel & Partners the first place in the Nordics with 58 deals. The top consultancies Image Sept and Fogel & Partners joined the strategic partnership in 2018, followed by LLYC as the leading communications and public affairs consultancy in Spain, Portugal and Latin America in the summer of 2019.
Together with GPG and Finsbury, Hering Schuppener offers clients worldwide access to top-class strategic and financial communications as well as public affairs consulting from a global network of over 500 experienced experts.
Germany: PR advisor table | Number Deals
2019 | Company | 2019 | 2019 | 2018 |
Number | Value (USD billion) | Number | ||
1 | Finsbury Hering Schuppener GPG | 50 | 41.688 | 43 |
2 | IWK (formerly Ira Wülfing Kommunikation) | 38 | 0.569 | 39 |
3 | Kekst CNC (Publicis) | 32 | 51.424 | 4 |
4 | FTI Consulting | 25 | 9.393 | 25 |
5 | Brunswick Group | 14 | 13.332 | 14 |
6 | Charles Barker Corporate Communications | 14 | 2.752 | 17 |
7 | Maitland (AMO) | 12 | 1.482 | 20 |
8 | Image Sept | 11 | 1.058 | 5 |
9 | Hawthorn | 11 | 0.454 | 16 |
10 | Citigate Dewe Rogerson | 8 | 0.101 | 9 |
Europe: PR advisor table | Number Deals
2018 | Company | 2019 | 2018 |
Number | Number | ||
1 | Finsbury Hering Schuppener GPG | 145 | 138 |
2 | FTI Consulting | 137 | 172 |
3 | Brunswick Group | 121 | 155 |
4 | Kekst CNC (Publicis) | 109 | 58 |
5 | Barabino & Partners | 106 | 56 |
6 | Maitland (AMO) | 104 | 135 |
7 | Citigate Dewe Rogerson | 76 | 90 |
8 | Image Sept | 75 | 60 |
9 | Fogel & Partners | 61 | 23 |
10 | Greenbook Communications | 60 | 60 |
Global: PR advisor table I Number deals
2018 | Company | 2019 | 2018 |
Number | Number | ||
1 | Sard Verbinnen & Co | 251 | 268 |
2 | Kekst CNC (Publicis) | 235 | 190 |
3 | Finsbury Hering Schuppener GPG | 200 | 170 |
4 | Joele Frank Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher | 180 | 146 |
5 | FTI Consulting | 177 | 232 |
6 | Brunswick Group | 165 | 232 |
7 | Maitland (AMO) | 112 | 145 |
8 | Barabino & Partners | 108 | 56 |
9 | Lambert & Co | 83 | 2 |
10 | Citigate Dewe Rogerson | 78 | 95 |
(Source: Mergermarket)
Contact
Dirk von Manikowsky
Hering Schuppener Consulting
T: +49 (0) 211 430 79 265
M:+49 (0) 171 120 12 16
E: dvonmanikowsky@heringschuppener.com
About Hering Schuppener
Hering Schuppener Consulting is one of the leading communications consultancies in Continental Europe and the clear market leader in Germany, with offices in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt as well as an office in Brussels. Hering Schuppener has specialized in strategic communications solutions for companies in mission-critical situations such as M&A transactions, IPOs, restructuring and change processes as well as crises. Moreover, the company advises its clients on a continuous basis in reinforcing their reputation and managing their brand, in management and controlling of international communications activities, in issues related to corporate campaigning and corporate affairs, CEO positioning, digital corporate communication and transformation as well as in long-term press and investor relations activities.
Hering Schuppener Consulting, Finsbury und The Glover Park Group (GPG) together form a global strategic partnership. The combination of these three market leaders is one of the few global platforms advising clients across all communication issues leveraging over 500 consultants in 16 offices around the world. The strategic partnership provides combined global practice groups in Capital Markets, Crisis, Corporate Reputation and Public Affairs to give clients greater cross-market access and the best and most relevant strategic counsel. This strategic advice includes all available communication channels including an integrated digital offering. Finsbury, Hering Schuppener and The Glover Park Group are specialized operating companies of WPP, the world’s largest communications services group.
More information at: www.heringschuppener.com | www.finsbury.com | www.gpg.com