Insights from industry leaders highlight M&A TIC sector strength
The Testing, Inspection & Certification (TIC) sector is robust, judging from discussions at Capitalmind Investec’s second annual European TIC Conference. Personal experiences shared by the heads of two highly acquisitive TIC businesses offered the audience of 60 industry leaders valuable insights into current Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) thinking and trends.
Acquisitions and organic growth
Higher levels of M&A activity than is generally seen in the market are being supported by stable company valuations, as Michel Degryck, Managing Partner at Capitalmind Investec, explained: “We saw a rise in valuations from 2020 to 2022 and they are now more stable. Investors are increasingly paying close attention to organic growth in TIC businesses. Generally speaking, a good valuation multiple requires double-digit organic growth. Companies must also demonstrate that their acquisitions can grow fast to prove they will generate value on top of providing relative multiples.”
Continued consolidation trends, with valuation expansion
In the current economic climate, trade buyers of TIC companies are also keeping a keen eye on pricing power. “The ability to pass through inflation cost by increasing prices is important to potential buyers. Businesses that offer more than just pure TIC services tend to succeed better in passing on higher costs,” Michel noted.
Sustainability, digitalisation and internationalisation
Marleen outlined three important trends in the sector: sustainability, digitalisation and internationalisation. “Investors are looking for sustainability and TIC companies are benefiting from growing societal expectations for a safer, more sustainable world,” she observed. Capitalmind Investec predicts that digitalisation, particularly connected devices and remote services, is changing TIC businesses, said Michel: “TIC companies are looking at how they collect and leverage data, and at using artificial intelligence, to provide their clients with more business value. As a result, TIC companies are moving from ticking boxes to check compliance with regulations to providing risk management solutions and business performance tools.”
Internationalisation was evident in the success stories recounted by France-based Trescal, the global leader in calibration with a busy buy-and-build investment strategy, and Netherlands-based Normec, a rapidly growing TIC company.
Until a few years ago, TIC M&A activity was generally domestically oriented. That is now changing quite rapidly with more cross-border transactions.
Trescal: don’t rush acquisitions
Guillaume Caroit, CEO of Trescal, said around one-quarter of annual turnover growth came from organic growth and the rest through acquisitions. Impressive expansion into 30 countries, with over 5,000 staff and 70,000 global customers is the result of combining caution with ambition.
Guillaume’s advice for an effective M&A strategy is “Don’t bite off more than you can chew. And don’t rush things too much.”
M&A activity helps Trescal to maintain its preferred balance between end-markets as well as diversifying into new geographies. Guillaume said private equity firms were supportive of the strategy. “PE firms like the purity of Trescal as a pure player in calibration which is our core business, plus our ability to attract good managers, especially in new countries.”
Chief among his priorities when integrating businesses is to invest in people. The Trescal Institute supports the retention of skilled technicians and engineers post-acquisition by offering training programmes. “Many of our competitors can’t afford to invest as much as us on people,” said Guillaume. “We train people centrally in Paris and recruit locally around the world.”
Normec: focus on countries and sectors
Joep Bruins, CEO of Normec, set up the company in 2015 and immediately began buying small TIC companies. Normec focuses on only four TIC sectors: food, life safety, sustainability and healthcare. About half of its business comes from acquired companies.
“We have a one-stop delivery model for clients to access all types of labs to meet their needs,” he said. “We also offer label compliance and software development services, so they can receive everything from a single supplier.”
Normec’s organic growth is over 10% and it has made over 60 acquisitions to date. This buy & build strategy has been funded by private equity funds since around 2017.
The company’s geographic spread is currently nine countries. “We try to stay as focused as possible in our core sectors and countries,” said Joep. “Our clients are relatively small and many don’t necessarily need international services. Three-quarters of our revenue comes from small- to medium-sized businesses.”
Once a target is acquired, Normec doesn’t look to relocate or centralise the business. “We keep acquired companies where they are, so we have local labs offering high service levels. It’s fairly easy to integrate them into our wider network. Here, colleagues can learn from each other.”
Watch the highlights from our 2024 European TIC conference
The event kicked off with an overview of the state of the M&A market in the TIC sector. Capitalmind Investec has built up many years’ experience providing mid-market TIC companies in the UK, Europe and US with M&A financial advice.
Marleen Vermeer, Partner at Capitalmind Investec, highlighted the growing shift towards a global focus in M&A activity. “Until a few years ago, TIC M&A activity was generally domestically oriented. That is now changing quite rapidly with more cross-border transactions,” she said.
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