Data Driven Deal Sourcing

- March 2020: *Schibsted looking to make acquisitions according to analyst* H. Trondsen, an analyst at Norwegian investment bank Arctic Securities, has stated that Schibsted, the publ. listed media group, is dropping dividends to cut costs and create financial flexibility. She furthermore states that Schibsted only has marginal debt, and a debt ratio that is below the target they have set and believes that Schibsted will look at acquisitions and want financial flexibility for it. Jacob Moller is the current Head of M&A at Schibsted.

- March 2020: *Acquisitions integral part for Hypoport* The SDAX listed financial technology company Hypoport is considering acquisitions of Fintech, Insurtech and Probtech companies in 2020. More particularly, small independent brokers will find it difficult to live up to new industry requirements and are thus looking for strong partners in the fragmented market. In its annual report, Hypoport published revenues of EUR 337.2m and an EBITDA of EUR 52m. Managing the company since 2002, Ronald Slabke has sped up M&A activities with 4 acquisitions within the last two years.

- March 2020: *Evotec plans further M&A activities in 2020* In its annual report for 2019, the drug development and discovery company, states that it will further grow both organically and through acquisitions. Even though acquisitions account for a significant share of Evotec’s assets, a strong cash flow allows for more investments. Besides its investment outlook, the company published sales of EUR 446.4m and an EBITDA of EUR 123m. Since 2016, Enno Spillner has been CFO for Evotec.

- March 2020: *United Internet to keep investing in new acquisitions * The Internet service provider United Internet with its 13 brands is sticking to its strategy of acquiring suitable targets. Despite the given market conditions, the company can utilize good investment opportunities through their high and plannable level of free cash flow. In FY 2018, the company generated revenues of EUR 5.2bn and had an EBITDA of EUR 1.3bn. Frank Krause, CFO since 2015, has the responsibility for future acquisitions. <br />

- March 2020: *Analyst expects Sanoma to grow through acquisitions in 2020* P. Aho, an analyst at analytics service company Inderes, states that he expects Sanoma's net sales to grow through further acquisitions in 2020 to reach net sales growth of 18 pct. corresponding to EUR 1.1bn, with an EBIT of EUR 160m. He furthermore states, that equity valuation could be supported over the next 12 months by potential new acquisitions, which, due to lower valuation levels, can provide better value creation opportunities. Jukka Ropponen is the current Head of M&A at Sanoma.