As of September 1, 2021, we are pleased to be part of D.A. Davidson & Co. We will continue serving our clients as part of their full-service Investment Banking Group. Click here to learn more about our combined strengths.
×

Transactions

June 2012
London, United Kingdom
has been acquired by
Mumbai, India


Background

Coalition Development Ltd. (“Coalition” or the “Company”), founded in 2002, is a UK-based business intelligence company that provides unique, comparative market insight to the boards, strategy teams and top management at many of the world’s leading investment banks (such as Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Citi).  The Company’s tools are used to help these firms better understand and compare themselves with peers, focusing on the relative performance (market share gains and losses, share of wallet and etc.) of their various business units that trade financial securities (Fixed Income, Commodities, Currencies, Equity Derivatives and etc.).  The customers use the Company’s proprietary analytics and algorithms to gain clear and actionable sense of, for instance, relative percentage of deals won and lost, comparative organizational size and structure.  Coalition is headquartered in London, UK with offices in Mumbai, New York and Singapore.  The Company approached Marlin & Associates (“M&A”) in late 2011 for guidance, as they considered a variety of strategic options including a sale.



Overview

M&A organized a dedicated team to work closely with Management to identify potentially interested parties and to develop materials that would seamlessly communicate Coalition’s story, growth potential, strategy, execution plan and financial projections to those parties.  M&A leveraged its deep domain expertise, significant knowledge of the global investor universe in the sector to run a competitive sale process initially involving parties from Europe, North America and India.  M&A helped Management frame the story properly and spend the time with these parties to ensure that they understood the Company’s unique value proposition and growth potential.   When the process narrowed interested parties to a few, M&A advised Coalition’s board on negotiation strategies with those few, while at the same time  working with Coalition’s disparate shareholder base (comprised of management shareholders, private individual investors and three global banks) to ensure common agreement in objectives. 

After careful consideration, and negotiation, Coalition agreed to be acquired by CRISIL Ltd., a Standard & Poor’s company based in Mumbai, India that provides ratings, research, risk and policy advisory services to the world’s largest banks and leading corporations.

After the acquisition, Coalition became part of CRISIL’s Global Research and Analytics (GR&A) business.  CRISIL Global Research & Analytics is a top-ranked provider of high-end research and analytics services.  CRISIL’s Management believes that Coalition’s cutting-edge analytical capabilities, in-depth understandings of the workings of financial markets, and strong relationships with its clients will enable CRISIL GR&A to widen its service offerings, diversify its client base and deepen its client relationships.  Coalition’s management shareholders realized the value from their investment and direct involvement in successfully growing the business, long-time private individual shareholders and institutional investors realized a highly satisfactory return on their investment in Coalition with the exit.

M&A Role

Marlin & Associates acted as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Coalition.  M&A leveraged its substantial cross-border execution experience to advise the Coalition Management team, the board and its shareholders through a complex process that involved parties in five time zones and on three continents.  M&A’s senior team was personally and intimately involved at every step of the way.  This team effort resulted in an agreement acceptable to all parties.

Press

CRISIL to acquire Coalition, UK-based Analytics Firm

June 01, 2012

Acquisition will expand CRISIL’s service offerings and customer base

Mumbai, India––(June 1, 2012) CRISIL today announced that it has entered into an agreement to buy 100% of the equity shares of UK headquartered Coalition Development Ltd. along with its subsidiaries (Coalition) (www.coalition.com).

Coalition provides high-end analytics, mainly to leading global investment banks. Formed in 2002, Coalition is a dynamic high-growth company firmly established as a premium brand. Coalition reported 2011 revenues of GBP 8 million. The all-cash transaction has a maximum payout of GBP 29 million (around Rs.250 crores) with earn outs over 2 years, linked to achievement of specified milestones for the company's future revenues and profits. The acquisition will add to the earnings per share of CRISIL from the first year. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. 

Coalition deploys unique proprietary analytics and algorithms to provide deep analytics on market size and dynamics, revenue opportunities and human capital. Coalition’s analytics provide a clear, actionable picture of the markets and are used by boards, strategy teams and top management at leading financial services institutions.

Coalition will be part of CRISIL’s Global Research and Analytics (GR&A) business. Roopa Kudva, Managing Director and CEO of CRISIL, said “Coalition’s cutting-edge analytical capabilities, in-depth understanding of the workings of financial markets and strong relationships with its clients will enable CRISIL Global Research & Analytics to widen service offerings, diversify its client base and deepen client relationships. We look forward to building upon Coalition’s success and working with this highly capable and well-led team.”

“We have worked very hard to find the right partner to take Coalition to the next level of growth, and we are delighted to become a part of CRISIL,” said Trevor Foster-Black Chairman, and CEO of Coalition. “CRISIL is a dynamic and rapidly-growing analytical company with tremendous credibility, a strong business profile and robust balance sheet. I see a very bright future for our business as a member of the CRISIL group.”

CRISIL Global Research & Analytics (GR&A) is a top-ranked provider of high-end research and analytics services. It is the world's largest provider of equity and fixed income research services. It is also the foremost provider of end-to-end risk and analytics services to trading and risk management functions at the world's leading financial institutions and corporations. CRISIL GR&A’s equity analysts support coverage on over 2000 stocks, accounting for around 90% of global market capitalization and trading volumes. Its teams annually review over 20% of the global exotic equity derivatives and build and validate over 3,500 models. Its clients include 12 of the top 15 global investment banks, 3 of the top 15 global insurance companies and 37 Fortune 500 companies. CRISIL GR&A’s team operates from research centres in Argentina, China, India, and Poland.

MAPE Advisory Group was the adviser for CRISIL Global Research & Analytics.

Marlin & Associates served as the exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Coalition.

About CRISIL Limited, a Standard & Poor's Company (www.crisil.com)

CRISIL is a global analytical company providing ratings, research, and risk and policy advisory services. We are India’s leading ratings agency. We are also the foremost provider of high-end research to the world’s largest banks and leading corporations.

Our majority shareholder is Standard & Poor's (S&P). Standard & Poor's, a part of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of credit ratings.

About Coalition (www.coalition.com)

Coalition is a leading financial services analytics company. Formed in 2002, it is a

dynamic high-growth company firmly established as a premium brand. They deploy unique proprietary analytics and algorithms to provide deep analytics on market size and dynamics, revenue opportunities and human capital. Coalition’s analytics provide a clear, actionable picture of the markets and are used by boards, strategy teams and top management at leading financial services institutions.

About Marlin & Associates (www.MarlinLLC.com)

Marlin & Associates Holding LLC is a boutique investment banking and strategic advisory firm specializing in acquisitions and divestitures of U.S. and international middle-market firms that provide technology, digital information and healthcare-related products, technology and services. The firm is headquartered in New York, NY and has additional offices in San Francisco, CA; Washington, DC; Toronto, Canada; and Hong Kong.

Marlin & Associates Securities LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marlin & Associates Holding LLC, is a broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is a FINRA/SIPC member firm (www.finra.org). Investment banking and/or securities are offered through Marlin & Associates Securities LLC.

Back to previous page
Back to Top