Bryan Garnier snaps up London deals outfit in bet on City rebound
Investment bank Bryan Garnier has snapped up deals advisor NOR Capital and bolstered its team in London in a vote of confidence in the City despite a slump in dealmaking this year, City A.M. can reveal.
Bryan Garnier & Co, a pan-European investment bank headquartered in London, is set to merge its London-based teams with NOR Capital after closing a deal to buy the smaller firm last week.
The firms declined to give a value for the deal when questioned by City PM
The tie-up is set to bolster Bryan Garnier’s technology team and could signal a more aggressive push into sectors like fintech, mobility and space, where NOR Capital’s team have built a specialised fundraising and deals advisory offer.
Bryan Garnier chief and founder Olivier Garnier said the deal also signalled a vote of confidence in the Square Mile’s prospects.
“This acquisition underscores our commitment to the London market,” he added. “The NOR Capital team’s entrepreneurial spirit means that they are the perfect addition to Bryan Garnier and together we will continue to build on our strong track record in London and across Europe.”
A merger is also set to reunite NOR chief Florent Roulet with his former firm, having started his career with the bank as a intern in 2007. He founded NOR in 2014 with former Lazard partner Antony Northrop.
Bryan Garnier has carved out a specialism in sectors like healthcare, fintech, software and sustainability. Among its bigger recent deals were the €250m sale of leading crypto custody firm Metaco to Ripple Labs in May this year, as well as green hydrogen producer Lhyfe’s €110m IPO on Euronext Paris last year.
However, the swoop for NOR comes amid a tricky period for smaller investment banks and dealmakers, who have been hit by a deals slowdown and funding drop-off over the past year.
Pre-tax profits for Bryan Garnier slumped by around half last year to £9.7m, according to companies house documents filed earlier this month.
Smaller banks and advisory firms have been hunting for scale and security amid the barren patch for deals.
London banks FinnCap and Cenkos securities last week closed a tie-up and began trading in London as Cavendish, while Numis was snapped up by Deutsche Bank earlier this year.