GP Bullhound

GP Bullhound is an international technology investment banking group with offices in London, San Francisco, Stockholm and Berlin, which has served companies and their founders and investors since 1999. The firm provides advice on mergers & acquisitions and private/public placement as well as research and asset management to a diverse range of corporate clients, institutional investors and high net worth individuals.

GP Bullhound specialises in digital content, eCommerce, software and hardware.

The firm has completed transactions for many category leaders such as 192.com, Apertio, AudioAsics, Avito.ru, Bluewater Bio, CLX Networks, Concentrix, Cramer Systems, Funcom, Fjord, Essence, Glasses Direct, Handbag.com, Heliatek, King.com, Lastminute.de, Player X, Nanoradio, Neonode, Newbay, Steelseries, The Cloud, Tradedoubler, Tunigo/Spotify and Xjet Solar.

GP Bullhound has an international team of 35 experienced corporate financiers focused on the technology sector, and as a firm they have closed over 150 successful transactions since 1999. In 2013, GP Bullhound was awarded Boutique Investment Bank of the Year and Leading Advisers of the Year by the Acquisition International M&A Awards, and Manish Madhvani, a Founding Partner of GP Bullhound was named as Dealmaker of the Year at the M&A Advisor 40 Under 40 Award.

History

GP Bullhound was founded in 1999 and is headquartered at 52 Jermyn Street in London, with additional offices in San Francisco (USA), Stockholm (Sweden) and Berlin (Germany). The firm has a strong foothold in Europe and offers clients a global reach to investors and the financial markets. GP Bullhound is a research centric investment bank and publishes monthly sector reports in the areas of Digital Content, eCommerce, software and hardware and has completed over 150 successful M&A and Private Placement transactions since it was established.

In 2013 the firm was awarded two awards at Acquisition International's M&A Awards 2013; UK Boutique Investment Bank of the Year and Leading Advisers of the Year. Co-founding partner Manish Madhvani was named Dealmaker of the Year at the M&A Advisor 40 Under 40 Award. In 2010 the firm was awarded four separate awards; Corporate Finance Boutique of the Year, M&A Boutique Investment Bank of the Year, Deal of the Year and Green Deal of the Year, for the being the sole M&A advisor on the sale of Concentrix Solar.

Recent M&A transactions include; Cupid (sale of casual dating sites) to Grendall Investment, Pure 360 (Management Buyout), Fjord (sale) to Accenture and Tunigo (sold) to Spotify. Recent private placements include PlayOn! Sports, Bambuser, Planetveo and Mathem.

Expert commentary and Events

The firm is an established thought leader and is regularly asked to provide commentaries on CNN International, CNBC Europe and BBC World as well as print media, keynoting and moderating industry conferences. GP Bullhound takes an active role in the technology entrepreneurial echo system by participating in industry conferences and has also founded and continues to manage important industry events such as Investor Allstars, GP Bullhound Summit featuring the Media Momentum Awards and GP Bullhound Connect. GP Bullound is also one of the backers of SUP46.

Investor Allstars was founded in 2002, and is with 600+ attendees an established event for the European venture capital community, The awards recognise Europe’s leading investors and risk takers and have been labelled the “Oscars” for the European venture capital community. The 11th annual Investor Allstars in 2013, presented by GP Bullhound and Vitesse Media, celebrated a year of great investments, fantastic exits and entrepreneurship. Shirin Dehgan of Arieso won Female Entrepreneur of the Year and Alexander Ljung of SoundCloud was crowned Male Entrepreneur of the Year; Pär-Jörgen Pärson of Northzone was voted Investor of the Year, and DFJ Esprit won VC Fund of the Year. The year of 2013 also saw the introduction of the Allstars Challenge, with Believe Digital, Fly Victor, Klarna, MedicAnimal, Rovio, Secret Escapes and Zoopla fighting it out to win the accolade of Europe’s Most Exciting Investor Backed Company of the Year. After an interactive voting session, the prize went to Zoopla.

With the general scepticism and reluctance to invest in tech start-ups following the Dot.com meltdown in 2000-2002, the firm wanted to showcase and celebrate the exciting developments happening in this sector and in 2004, the firm launched Media Momentum. The event has developed into the GP Bullhound Summit, a prominent invitation-only event hosting 100 of the leading entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the European digital scene. The Summit and awards take place in a different tech hotspot each year. The event is free, run as not-for-profit and financed by GP Bullhound and a small group of sponsors wishing to support entrepreneurship in Europe. Sponsors for 2013 included Berenberg Private Banking, Kemp Little, Acton Capital Partners, TA Associates, London Stock Exchange, Scottish Equity Partners, Northzone, Creandum, EDBI, Vivendi, Olswang, Frog, Moor and Ballou PR.

In 2009, GP Bullhound founded Cleantech Connect, an exciting event to recognise the fastest growing Cleantech companies in Europe. The event has developed into the GP Bullhound Connect and the firm was in 2013 pleased to host its’ 5th annual event featuring the most thrilling, innovative and fastest growing efficiency technology companies in Europe. The event has become an established annual gathering for CEOs and Founders to network.

Research

Since being founded, GP Bullhound has written extensive and independent technology sector research focused on the areas of Digital Content, eCommerce, software and hardware. The firm’s research is distributed to an exclusive group of leading institutional investors in both Europe and the US before being made available more widely.

Recent research has covered Online Fashion, Scandinavian MA and Fundraising, Mobile Commerce, Online Dating, the Oled Market, Water Desalination, Russian Internet, Online Gaming and Social Travel.

References

• GP Bullhound, Research Division, March 14, 2011
• Research Reports, March 14, 2011
• Boutique Investment Bank of the Year, December 9, 2010
• Cleantech: Top 25 European Companies, January 10, 2011
• Media Momentum CEO Summit, January 27, 2011
• Transactions, Placements, January 12, 2011

External links

• GP Bullhound Official Homepage