Professional Services Firms
Eaton Square is a corporate advisor and private equity investor that specialises in Professional Services firms. We have deep experience in legal services, management consulting, engineering, IT services, architecture and planning, and recruitment.
Within this sector we have three main sets of clients.
The first are large international services businesses that are looking to make targeted acquisitions in Australia and Asia Pacific. We help these clients find, attract and secure acquisitions prior to them fully engaging their international M&A teams.
Our second group of clients are small and medium sized professional services firms who are looking for a new ‘bigger home’ by being acquired by a larger services firm. We help smaller firms ready themselves for sale, identify potential acquirers, negotiate sale terms and manage the sales transaction. We also act for the acquirers looking to grow their footprint in the Australian and Asia Pacific region.
The third group are firms looking to raise capital against a growth or acquisition plan either in preparation for an exit or to dominate a particular market sector.
At this time we are particularly active in the internationalisation of the Legal, Engineering, Architectural, IT Services and Management Consulting sectors as these sectors seek merger partners, capital and acquisition growth.
Investors
Our investor clients are typically high net worth individuals, smaller institutions or family trusts seeking exposure to the professional services sector. Some investor clients take an active role in the businesses in which they invest. Others are more passive according to their requirements and interests.
The global professional services market is valued at over US$1.8 trillion dollars and is growing more strongly than the broader economy. The Asia region is one of the fastest growing regions in the world today.
Eaton Square is singularly focused on professional services firms.
This is an attractive market for investors because professional services firms are increasingly open to investment and consolidation as the ‘babyboomer’ generation, the most prominent owners of this sector seek solutions to their retirement and succession issues. This provides attractive entry opportunities for investors.
This is also an attractive market for investors because the professional services industry is growing and consolidating globally providing many exit opportunities for investors. As much larger players seek to consolidate their markets, follow their clients internationally or seek additional intellectual property to supplement their offerings and channels, many smaller firms are an attractive merger/acquisition option.
