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Hoche Avocats advised Wavestone on its merger with Q_Perior to form a European powerhouse
Two of Europe’s larger management and digital consulting firms, France-headquartered Wavestone and Germany-headquartered Q_Perior, are joining forces to create a powerhouse player with over 5,500 employees worldwide.
Wavestone, a French leading consultancy, and Q_PERIOR, a consulting leader in the Germany-Switzerland-Austria (GSA) region, announce that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the combination of the two firms to create a European champion in the consulting market.
Founded in 1990, Wavestone is a French consulting firm, listed on Euronext Paris, that supports major companies and organizations in their most crucial transformations by closely combining the best business, technological and sustainability capabilities. Wavestone has 4,406 employees as of March 31, 2023, located in 9 countries, mainly in France, the UK, the USA and Asia.
Q_PERIOR is a German consulting firm owned by its founders, directors and Partners, and one of the GSA market leaders. Q_PERIOR results of the combination of three business and IT consulting firms back in 2011 (ESPRiT Consulting AG, cofounded by Karsten Höppner in 1995, agens Consulting GmbH and Paricon AG).
Q_PERIOR has 1,410 permanent staff as of March 31, 2023, and is present in 8 German cities and 11 countries worldwide with a strong European presence, notably in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the UK, as well as North America.
The joint ambition of Wavestone and Q_PERIOR is to build a new player, which would be, right from the beginning, a leader among European consulting firms, with a large footprint in three of continental Europe’s main markets (France, Germany and Switzerland). This well-established and solid base would enable the firm to pursue its development in key geographies for its major clients: the UK, North America, and, in the longer term, Asia.
By 2025, the new firm would aim to reach, without new acquisitions, around €1 billion revenue, with an EBIT of at least €130 million in FY 2024/25 representing significant growth of over 70%. These objectives are calculated on a constant forex basis.
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Legal Counsel to Wavestone : Hoche Avocats : Corporate M&A: Didier Fornoni (partner), Vincent Guilaine (associate), Antoine Bourgoin (associate).
Other legal counsels :
Legal counsels to Wavestone : Dentons, DC Advisory, BNP Paribas, Grant Thornton, Willis Tower Watson, Arsène.
Legal counsels to Q_PERIOR : Taylor Wessing, Rothschild & Co.
Investir les Echos – 25 July 2023