Alantra advised Maine Pointe on the sale of a majority stake to SGS

Jun 2019

Sell-side advisory

Alantra has advised the based global supply chain and operations consulting firm Maine Pointe, on a transaction which sees SGS, a world-leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company, take a majority stake. The complementary capabilities of both companies will help strengthen SGS’s high-value consulting capabilities and leverage Maine Pointe’s business process optimisation and improvement through its proprietary methodology Total Value Optimization™ (TVO) .

This is the latest in a series of transactions in the consultancy sector advised by Alantra and comes shortly after MML Capital Partners’ investment in technology consultancy Altius, and Livingbridge’s investment in management consultancy Vendigital. Select deals advised by Alantra in the Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) sector include the acquisition of Concept Life Sciences by Spectris plc; Trigo’s acquisition of Supplier Management Solutions, Inc.; and the sale of Alcumus, followed by its acquisition of Santia. Alantra teams from London and Boston worked closely together during the transaction and comprised Managing Partner Andy Currie, Director Robert Pearce, Vice President Simon Roberts and Associate Josh Jones from the UK team, alongside Managing Partner Wade Aust and Vice President Jon Tetirick from the US team. Andy Currie, Managing Partner at Alantra, said: “We are delighted to have advised Maine Pointe on its partnership SGS.

The deal highlights the strong appeal of high-quality process consultancy businesses and the diversification that SGS is making into new, higher value-add services. Growth through acquisition is a core part of SGS’ strategy.” He added: “This deal brings together two international businesses with a presence in multiple geographies and as such underscores Alantra’s ability to meet the increasingly international needs of our clients through deep sector specialism and global partnership.” Steve Bowen, Chairman and CEO, Maine Pointe, said: “We are struck by the calibre of SGS and excited about the opportunities to build an expanded client base for both organisations and opportunities for our people. This combination will dramatically accelerate our goal to help clients transform their supply chain for competitive advantage on a global scale.” He added: “We are excited about working with SGS to build our future – making us stronger, smarter, more competitive, more influential – a truly global network of professionals ready to help clients address increasingly complex global supply chain challenges.” Frankie Ng, CEO of SGS, said: “Maine Pointe adds another layer of competence to the group and significantly accelerates our inroads into more advanced consultancy services in Certification & Business Enhancement.

The recent announcement of the disposal of PSC highlights the group strategy of focusing our capital allocation towards higher value-added services.” Maine Pointe’s name will remain, and it will operate as a distinctive business within SGS’s Certification & Business Enhancement (CBE) business unit. The acquisition will also help accelerate Maine Pointe’s goal of making TVO the global standard for end-to-end supply chain optimisation.