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Richard O'Donnell

I have been a specialist in the consumer and leisure sector for 20 years and I am a Partner at Clearwater. I cut my teeth at UBS Investment Bank, as part of the team advising on large transactions across Europe. I then moved to the mid-market and have spent the last 15 years working with some of the most exciting brands in the sector, including Fever-Tree, LEON Restaurants, Fox International, LeMieux, and Goals Soccer Centres. I’ve advised on sales, acquisitions, and take-private transactions in the sector.

Adviser to Royal Ten Cate on the sale of MEGA Valves International to management

Clearwater Germany advises KAP as exclusive financial adviser on the cross-border sale of Geiger Fertigungstechnologie to China-based Zhejiang Tieliu Clutch

Hemavli Bali

I joined Clearwater in December 2018 to lead M&A advisory within healthcare and life sciences technology and specialist services - including life science commercialisation services, e-clinical solutions, healthcare IT, software and IP driven consultancies. My 21 year career has traversed investment banks, Big Four firms and M&A boutiques and I joined Clearwater for its truly international team, passion for high quality client service, culture and dynamism. I have spent 16 years in M&A advisory, in the UK and the US, and advised on over 40 transactions across the sell- side, buy-side, owner-managed businesses, large corporates, private equity and public to private transactions. I have also provided extensive Board level advice both pre- and post-deal processes. The healthcare and life science industry, and its increasing technology enablement, has been my main focus throughout. Deals I have advised on include the sales of Age UK’s telecare business to Axa PPP Healthcare, Medaxial to Covance, Abacus International to Decision Resources Group and Synergy to DDB, Omnicom. I have previously held roles at Deloitte, Results International, Nomura, Royal Bank of Canada and Ernst & Young. I am a Chartered Accountant and hold a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Béatrice Blanquet

I joined the Marseille team in 2014 after having worked first in strategy consulting at Booz Allen & Hamilton, then in operational functions in various environments including the automotive industry at PSA Peugeot Citroën, cell phone distribution at Avenir Telecom, and finally the banking sector at Société Marseillaise de Crédit. I have participated in several sale and external growth processes across a variety of sectors. In the healthcare sector, I advised on the sale of Hôpital Privé La Casamance to the Almaviva Group, in the food & beverage sector I advised on the sale of Confit de Provence to French Gourmet Food, and in the industrials sector, I advised on the sale of PB Environnement to the Faun Environnement Group, and the acquisition of several transport companies by the Cogepart Group. The diverse range of transactions I have been able to work on over the last few years, the specificities inherent to each sector of activity, to each company and to each manager or shareholder, makes this job exciting. Understanding our clients' expectations, building, and implementing effective solutions adapted to each specific situation is particularly important to me and makes my daily work very stimulating. I am a graduate of ESCP Business School and have a Master's degree in Strategy and Marketing from the University of Paris Dauphine.

Philippe Guézenec

I co-founded the French team of Clearwater in 2010 after more than 15 years in investment banks such as Close Brothers and BNP Paribas. In addition to leading the French team, I manage the consumer goods sub-sector. My recent deals include advising Montagu on the disposal of St Hubert to the Chinese group Fosun/Sanyuan, and the takeover of William Saurin by Cofigeo. I have also carried out a number of deals across the healthcare sector advising healthcare institutions and laboratories. I advised Bridgepoint Capital on the sale of C2S to Eurazeo Patrimoine, and the acquisition of St Georges Group by Kantys. The health and agri-food sub-sectors are closely intertwined, as evidenced by the growth of functional foods and ingredients, and Clearwater International's expertise in the natural foods industry has led to deals involving world leaders such as BCF Life Sciences and Solina. Linking these skills with new e-health or food tech trends allows Clearwater to bring particularly creative solutions to clients.

Richard Ellis

I am a Director within the Clearwater Growth team. I joined Clearwater in 2014 having previously worked at BDO where I qualified as a Chartered Accountant. I’m a deal leader with a focus on TMT and have advised on a number of deals in the sector including Palatine Impact’s investment in e-days Absence Management and the sale of Union Square to Deltek Inc. I’ve also advised on a number of high-profile transactions outside of TMT including the sale of Westleigh to listed Countryside Properties plc and Sidhil to US corporate, Drive DeVilbiss.

At Clearwater, I've had the opportunity to advise on a wide variety of transactions and a range of clients, including owner-managers, institutional investors and large corporates, ensuring no two days are the same. A significant amount of effort and work goes into every transaction, often with numerous ups and downs along the way. It is often a life-changing event for our client so the feeling you get from completing a deal is a real highlight. 

I had the privilege of being awarded Young Dealmaker of the Year at the East Midlands Dealmakers Awards in 2018. 

Emmanuel Xerri

I founded the Clearwater team in Marseilles over 20 years ago. The Mediterranean region has many up-and-coming businesses which we are ideally placed to advise given our close proximity. I started my career in the corporate finance department of PwC and then joined EY. Following this I co-developed the activities of Edmond de Rothschild in Marseille for five years. Over the years, I have supported small and medium-sized companies that have sometimes become large corporations. The diversity of the transactions I have advised on makes me a generalist, or rather a multi-specialist across various sectors including business services, healthcare, industrials, specialised distribution, and TMT. More recently, I advised on the various build-up operations as well as the primary and secondary LBOs of the Cogepart Group, the French leader in last mile delivery. I also advised Hôpital Privée La Casamance on the merger with the Almaviva group and the entry of FrenchFood Capital into Markal, a major player in the organic food sector. Today, Clearwater International is ideally positioned to accompany clients through the increasingly rapid changes in the market, remaining adaptable and utilising our sector specialists in both our French and international teams to meet client goals.

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