LTE Charts of the Week showcase the power of Mergermarket’s Likely to Exit (LTE) predictive analytics engine. Find more financial sponsor exit opportunities by activating a two-week trial to Mergermarket or log in if you are a subscriber. 

• Rino Mastrotto, Kurt Geiger and Phase One among highest LTE Scores in Europe’s consumer and retail sector
• Everi Holdings’ acquisition of International Game Technology is the largest sector acquisition of 2024 in Europe, driving sector activity up 79% year-on-year
• Italy tops European countries with highest number of potential consumer sponsor exits – Mergermarket LTE

There is a rich pipeline of financial sponsor-backed assets in the consumer sector which could be nearing a sale, according to Mergermarket’s Likely to Exit (LTE) algorithm.

Rino Mastrotto, the Italy-based leather goods company backed by NB Renaissance, tops the consumer sponsor exit pipeline with a score of 76 out of 100. The score is driven by Mergermarket reporting, and market chatter last year that the business is planning to list via an initial public offering (IPO).

UK-based footwear brand Kurt Geiger, with an LTE Score of 63, is also reportedly being prepared for a sale by sponsor Cinven. And there are plenty of other exit opportunities in the sector including Creativ Co, the Denmark-based stationary supplier, Phase One, a digital imaging company and Azzurri Group, a UK-based restaurant operator.

Dealmaking activity in the consumer and retail sector is off to a strong start so far in 2024 with a total of EUR 9.3bn recorded in Europe, up 79% from the same period last year, according to Mergermarket deals data.

A USD 4bn acquisition of slot machine specialist International Gaming Technologies [NYSE:IGT] by peer Everi Holdings [NYSE:EVRI] was the largest consumer deal announced in 2024 so far. Other deals reported this year in the consumer space included the acquisition of TV production house All3Media by RedBird IMI for GBP 1.2bn and financial sponsor L Catterton’s public offer to delist the Italian luxury shoemaker Tod’s [BIT:TOD].

Europe has a strong pipeline of 38 portfolio companies in the consumer space with LTE Scores higher than 50. Italy has the highest number of portfolio assets ripe for an exit (12 companies) followed by the UK and Spain (six each). This includes RCF Group, Bright Blue Foods and Hotels & Resorts Blue Sea.

LTE Scores are generated using a machine-learning algorithm developed by ION Analytics data scientists, engineers, and journalists leveraging 20+ inputs from more than a decade of proprietary Dealogic deal data and M&A intelligence. Find out more about the score’s predictive capabilities in Mergermarket‘s LTE Predictive Scoring Whitepaper.

Note: Data correct as of 13 March 2024

Source: Mergermarket.ionanalytics.com