Wavestone shares rose on Wednesday on the Paris Bourse after the French consulting firm announced the acquisition of US-based Aspirant Consulting for an initial sum of $24 million (22 million euros).

Founded in 2003 and based in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Aspirant offers services in the fields of marketing and innovation, organization and change management, and digital transformation.

Its major clients include leading companies such as GSK, Haleon, Novartis and PPG.

Aspirant RPO, its subsidiary specializing in outsourced recruitment services, is not included in the scope of consolidation.

In its last financial year, ending December 31, 2023, the company generated consolidated sales estimated at $26.1 million (€23.8 million), with an adjusted Ebitda margin expected to exceed 10%.

In a reaction note, analysts at Stifel point out that the transaction will enable Wavestone to increase the size of its North American operations by more than 50%.

Combined, we estimate that Wavestone US, Q_Perior North America and Aspirant should generate sales of around $70 million, i.e. almost 10% of the Group's consolidated sales", stresses the research firm.

Stifel adds that the Group is thus moving closer to the $100 million target it has set itself for this region, a level it considers to be a "critical" threshold.

The management of Aspirant Consulting, including CEO Mike McClaine, will continue to develop the entity within Wavestone, alongside the Wavestone US management team.

It should be noted that up to ten million dollars (9.1 million euros) may be added to the initial acquisition price, depending on the company's performance this year.

At 11:10 am, Wavestone shares were up by almost 0.2%, against a Paris market down by 1.1%.

Copyright (c) 2024 CercleFinance.com. All rights reserved.