M&A giant OAKLINS opens Cyprus office

The internationally renowned mergers and acquisitions firm OAKLINS has now opened an office in Cyprus, taking the local industry up a notch.

OAKLINS specialises in corporate acquisitions and mergers, capital development, debt advisory services and corporate finance services. Its workforce includes more than 850 professionals, in more than 60 offices in the 45 countries where it operates.

The size of the average value of offers in Cyprus is consistent with OAKLINS’ transaction profile, while the number of offers and the number of second and third generation companies that will now aim to gain value and sell, appear to be increasing.

OAKLINS has chosen Cyprus to open its new office as it sees potential in its mergers and acquisitions industry.

In an interview with InBusinessNews, Dinos Constantinou, a partners of the OAKLINS group in Cyprus, explains why the company has arrived on the island, what services it will offer and how it can benefit local businesses.

What is the OAKLINS group? What is its main area of expertise and is this where it will become active in Cyprus as well?

The OAKLINS group specialises in mergers and acquisitions and is one of the leaders worldwide in mid-size acquisitions; that is, with a value of under €300m. This is why they are interested in Cyprus, as they see that it is a huge market. They see that Cypriot companies have matured, in the sense that their founders have aged and there are too many people in the administration (relatives etc.). These businesses will be sold in the future and might be acquired by others.

Furthermore, due to the war in Ukraine, a huge market – that of Russia as well as China – has been lost. And so smaller countries that hadn’t previously been among the multinationals’ priorities to expand, now are. We will see more foreign companies wanting to expand to Cyprus.

At OAKLINS, they have looked at the acquisitions that have taken place in Cyprus over the past two years and seen quite a developed market. I specialise in mergers and acquisitions, and have collaborated with OAKLINS on some of these cases. And so, they decided to open an office in Cyprus.

When will the Group’s Cyprus office start operating?

We have already implemented certain acquisitions, while we are currently expecting one more to be completed, as the contract was signed last year and we are waiting for the competent supervisory authority’s approval. We hope this will come sometime soon.

Why should a business or company seek out OAKLINS? How will they benefit through such a process?

No private company is created with plan of selling it in the future. A study we conducted showed that almost no company in Cyprus is ready to be sold. For example, the organisational chart is not clearly divided, etc.

One of the first things we will do is to see how to prepare the company for acquisition. This is the reasoning we will use to approach Cypriot companies. At any mature company, the owners always have a specific value in mind. If, for example, you explain to them that this sum is undervalued because the company doesn’t have an organisational chart, they will take this into serious consideration.

On the other hand, someone who is interested in selling their company usually have to seek out the buyers themselves. With OAKLINS, one of the advantages is that it has an international network of buyers.

What should we expect from OAKLINS Cyprus in the immediate future?

We will contact businesses and explain to them that by better organising their company they will increase its value.

OAKLINS, with its decades of experience in the sector, offers companies an advantage over someone who is going about it alone.