Who are the leading HealthTech and MedTech M&A bankers advising Private Equity funds in Europe?
- Nelson Advisors
- Nov 2
- 15 min read
The Leading HealthTech and MedTech M&A Bankers Advising Private Equity Funds in Europe
Executive Summary: The Dual Advisory Model and PE Deployment (2024-2025)
The European HealthTech and MedTech M&A advisory landscape is currently defined by a structural duality, positioning global scale providers against highly specialised, often independent, advisory firms. This bimodal distribution of influence ensures that Private Equity (PE) funds have access to diverse expertise, accommodating both massive leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and high-volume digital health roll-up strategies.
The overall market context is highly favourable for deal execution, following a slow period in 2023. European financial services M&A activity saw a significant recovery in 2024, with deal volume reaching a nine-year high, reflecting a 22% year-on-year increase and total disclosed deal value rising from €36.3 Billion in 2023 to €52.0 Billion in 2024.
This recovery has been bolstered by stabilising macroeconomic conditions, including falling inflation and interest rates, which are critical for increasing market confidence and facilitating leveraged transactions favored by PE funds. PE investment is expected to accelerate further, underpinned by the successful final close of massive healthcare technology-focused funds, such as New Mountain Capital’s $15.4 Billion fund. This substantial dry powder guarantees sustained high demand for sophisticated advisory services focused on identifying, valuing, and executing complex technology-driven acquisitions in Europe.
Analysis of recent mandates reveals a key strategic observation regarding PE vendor selection: leading PE firms are utilising a sophisticated dual advisory model. They are not forced to choose between scale and specialisation but actively pair the two. For instance, Goldman Sachs (GS) consistently leads by transaction value, maximising returns on large PE exits, while Rothschild & Co (R&Co) leads by volume, managing the high frequency of mid-market transactions. This strategic approach means the Bulge Bracket (BB) firms provide global institutional connectivity, critical balance sheet support, and financing certainty, while volume leaders or niche specialists are often engaged for proprietary deal sourcing or for assets requiring highly technical valuation, particularly in the rapidly evolving digital health sector.
Key recent transactions underscore this arrangement. The landmark €10 Billion LBO of Stada involved top independents Rothschild and Jeffries leading the sell-side M&A advisory, while bulge brackets like Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs advised on global IPO coordination, demonstrating a layered advisory structure designed to maximise both institutional coverage and market liquidity.
Furthermore, the increasing complexity of targets, driven by AI and data-driven solutions and amplified by the compliance imperative imposed by the EU AI Act and the European Health Data Space (EHDS), necessitates specialised expertise. Firms dedicated exclusively to HealthTech, such as Nelson Advisors are becoming essential partners for PE firms navigating technical and regulatory risk.
Strategic Context: The European HealthTech Investment Thesis
The current European M&A market is defined by structural shifts in healthcare delivery, driven by demographic changes and mandatory digital integration. This environment creates both caution and opportunity, fuelling a specific type of M&A activity focused on quality and technical differentiation.
Analysis of M&A Market Drivers (2024-2025)
The strong performance of the M&A market in 2024, which followed a challenging 2023, confirmed a positive trajectory. Crucially, while global deal volumes saw a decline of 9%, overall European M&A deal value increased by 16% compared to 2023. This phenomenon is symptomatic of a "flight to quality," where highly differentiated companies, especially those leveraging AI and data-driven solutions attract competitive auctions and command premium valuations. For PE sponsors, this mandates selecting advisors with the strategic capability to secure high valuations and manage complex, multi-bidder auctions.
Private Equity's Role as the Key Acquirer
Private Equity remains the central driver of large-scale healthcare consolidation in Europe. PE firms are capitalizing on market fragmentation by executing sophisticated platform and roll-up strategies. Notable PE players globally specialising in healthcare, such as ArchiMed, have been highly active in the European market. Recent transactions highlight this trend, including the €10 Billion acquisition of Stada by CapVest and CVC Capital Partners' initiative to buy a stake in the German e-health services provider CompuGroup Medical (CGM) for €1.25 Billion.
These platform strategies, such as ACME's acquisition of GBUK followed by the bolt-on purchase of Care & Independence, require advisory firms with demonstrated expertise in high-volume, streamlined transaction execution across multiple jurisdictions. The prevalence of this strategy explains the high league table rankings of volume-focused mid-market banks.
Technological and Regulatory Complexity as Advisory Differentiators
The thematic investment focus on Artificial Intelligence, Digital Health, and data solutions is the primary engine driving current M&A targets.This necessitates an advisory model that moves beyond traditional financial execution. The technical complexity of these targets is compounded by impending European regulation. The EU AI Act and the European Health Data Space (EHDS), expected to take effect in August 2024 and March 2025 respectively, represent mandatory considerations for transaction valuation and structuring.
PE funds require advisors who can accurately integrate compliance risk and interoperability potential into their models, effectively validating the asset’s technology and regulatory runway. This critical integration of clinical and regulatory knowledge into the advisory process is a major differentiator in securing mandates.
Furthermore, the dynamics of capital deployment frequently involve cross-border transactions. US-based firms, such as HOPCo (Healthcare Outcomes Performance Company), are actively acquiring European HealthTech businesses to advance AI-driven patient care. Similarly, global PE houses like CVC Capital Partners, advised on the CGM acquisition in Germany. This activity confirms that PE capital is fluid and global, demanding advisors who possess integrated transatlantic capabilities, such as the recently scaled platform of Stifel post-Bryan Garnier acquisition to manage jurisdictional complexities, financing, and legal integration seamlessly.
Tier 1 Global Banks: The Arbiters of Value and Large-Cap PE Transactions
The largest global investment banks (BBs) and top independent advisors continue to dominate the top of the European M&A league tables, particularly in transactions involving major PE funds and large-cap assets.These firms offer scale, access to capital, and unmatched institutional relationships.
A. Goldman Sachs (GS): The Value Maximiser
Goldman Sachs has firmly established itself as the leading M&A financial advisor in Europe by value, ranking number one in 2024. This dominance is secured by its consistent presence in the largest, most strategically significant healthcare transactions, including its role as an advisor during the massive Stada exit process. GS leverages its powerful Financial Sponsors Group (FSG) relationships, often securing advisory roles that combine M&A execution with debt or equity underwriting for complex LBOs and P2Ps.
A key element of GS’s strategy to attract PE mandates in the complex HealthTech and MedTech space is the institutionalisation of deep sector expertise. The firm hired Philippe Gallone as Partner and Head of Healthcare Investment Banking in EMEA. His background as a trained physician is not merely biographical; it is central to GS’s value proposition. PE clients increasingly demand clinical and technical understanding integrated with financial structuring, especially when valuing proprietary MedTech devices or next-generation AI platforms. The inclusion of such expertise is a strategic response to mitigating the technical risk inherent in modern healthcare technology investments.
B. Rothschild & Co (R&Co): The Independent Volume Leader
Rothschild & Co consistently ranks as the number one M&A financial advisor in Europe by volume, a position it has maintained for over 15 years. This high volume reflects the firm’s pervasive footprint across the European mid-market, which is the primary field for PE platform build-ups and bolt-on acquisitions. R&Co’s independent advisory model allows it to manage simultaneous auctions and advise a multitude of competing PE funds without the potential balance sheet conflict issues sometimes faced by full-service BBs.
R&Co’s influence is not limited to the mid-market; their role as a lead sell-side advisor in the €10 Billion Stada LBO confirms their ability to manage deals at the very largest scale. Within the firm, Thibault Poirier serves as a Managing Director in the Healthcare team in London, focusing specifically on Healthcare Services and Healthcare Technologies. His experience, including a background at Goldman Sachs, allows R&Co to compete directly with BBs by demonstrating technical rigour and sophisticated structuring capabilities, thereby attracting specialised HealthTech mandates from PE clients.
C. Other Bulge Bracket Competitors and PE Mandates
Other major BBs are critical to the large-cap PE ecosystem. Morgan Stanley and BofA Securities acted as joint financial advisors to EQT on the buy-side of the significant £4.5 billion take-private acquisition of Dechra Pharmaceuticals. This successful mandate demonstrates their robust FSG relationships and proven capacity to secure and execute competitive P2P transactions.
Furthermore, independent powerhouses like Lazard occupied the second position in Europe by transaction value in 2024, advising on $71.3 Billion worth of deals. Lazard maintains a strong advisory presence, often focused on high-profile strategic or large financial sponsor transactions. J.P. Morgan (JPM) remains a dominant force in MedTech financing and M&A globally. The migration of top talent, such as Rakesh Patel, the former Co-Head of European Healthcare Advisory at JPM, to PJT Partners, illustrates that relationships and expertise often follow senior individuals, underscoring the continuous necessity for institutions to invest in and prove the quality of their senior coverage teams for PE clients.
The institutional approach to securing PE mandates, evidenced by the strategic recruitment of a physician like Gallone, indicates a direct, institutional response to the increasing complexity of HealthTech assets. PE clients focused on growth equity and digital platforms are demanding this specialised validation to mitigate clinical and technical risk.
European HealthTech & MedTech M&A Advisory Landscape (2024 Performance)
Mid-Market and Specialised Advisory Firms: The Engine of PE Consolidation
This advisory segment is vital to the core investment strategy of many PE funds, serving as the engine for continuous high-volume transactions, necessary for executing multi-jurisdictional roll-up strategies and platform additions.
Mid-Market Volume Specialists (High-Frequency PE Support)
Clearwater International is a dominant force in the mid-market, securing a top position by volume with 104 deals advised in 2024. This success is attributable to their extensive pan-European network, featuring 20 offices and a team of over 425 professionals. Clearwater explicitly focuses on partnering with private equity clients to help them capitalise on the buoyant healthcare market, driven by high investor appetite in areas like medical devices and healthcare technology. Their extensive footprint makes them essential partners for PE funds executing buy-and-build strategies that require efficient, multi-site transaction execution across the continent.
The strategic acquisition and integration of Bryan, Garnier & Co. by Stifel created an immediate, formidable mid-cap advisory entity. Bryan Garnier was a leading European middle-market investment bank specialising in the healthcare and technology verticals, employing 200 bankers with headquarters in Paris. This merger is a direct, structural response to the volume and complexity demands of PE. By combining forces, Stifel gained the critical mass and specialised sector knowledge necessary to offer a single, scaled solution for pan-European mid-market mandates that previously might have required multiple local firm retentions. This consolidation enhances Stifel's advisory capabilities significantly in both healthcare and technology.
Independent Relationship-Led Advisory
Firms prioritising senior involvement and bespoke strategic advice are highly valued by PE sponsors for complex or strategically sensitive mandates.
Houlihan Lokey (HL), known for its dedicated healthcare teams and strength in capital-raising and M&A, is led in Europe by Paul Tomasic, Managing Director and Head of European Healthcare. Tomasic advocates for moving away from broad, commoditised auctions toward a strategic, relationship-driven "non-process" approach. HL is therefore a strong choice for PE sales requiring highly nuanced financial structuring or complex asset sales where a traditional auction may jeopardise value extraction.
DC Advisory is another strong proponent of the "relationship-led advisory model" favoured by PE funds.The firm has actively invested in senior talent, evidenced by the recruitment of Andrew Murray-Lyon, Managing Director in the London-based Healthcare team. Murray-Lyon brings over 17 years of experience, including senior roles at Houlihan Lokey, Lazard, and Deutsche Bank, demonstrating that PE relationships often follow respected senior individuals rather than solely relying on the institutional brand name.
C. Regional and Boutique Leaders
Regional expertise remains crucial for accessing proprietary deal flow. ODDO BHF Corporate Finance focuses specifically on the European mid-market, with a strong emphasis on France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria (DACH region). Their dedicated sector expertise in Healthcare makes them essential local contacts for PE funds targeting core European assets.
Furthermore, specific national markets, especially France, have strong local contenders, including Edmond de Rothschild Corporate Finance (with key bankers Nicolas Durieux and Arnaud Petit), Natixis Partners (Patrick Biecheler and François Rivalland) and Alantra (Franck Noat and Fabrice Scheer). These firms are often involved in specialised MedTech device deals or localised healthcare services mandates where deep knowledge of local regulatory and financial nuances is paramount.
In the pure MedTech niche, highly focused firms such as Cavendish Financial, Cavendish Corporate Finance, and Colombo & Associati appear prominently in volume rankings for M&A deals in the European medical devices industry. This pattern indicates that transactions involving traditional medical devices are frequently handled by these sector-specific specialists, separate from the broader HealthTech and Digital Health focus of the global BBs.
Niche Specialists: The HealthTech AI and Digital Experts
The most transformative M&A activity in Europe targets Digital Health, AI, and related data solutions. This necessitates the engagement of a new class of specialised advisory firms that possess technological and regulatory fluency that transcends traditional corporate finance.
Nelson Advisors is positioned as a leading European M&A advisory firm dedicated exclusively to the HealthTech sector, including Digital Health, Health IT, and Healthcare AI. The firm's core specialisation directly addresses the strategic imperatives of PE funds by offering deep industry-specific knowledge that generalist firms often lack.
The firm's value proposition is uniquely rooted in operational pedigree. Co-founders Lloyd Price and Paul Hemings leverage over two decades of combined entrepreneurial and global M&A experience, having previously built, scaled and successfully exited HealthTech businesses. This provides a substantial advantage when advising PE funds acquiring technically complex, IP-heavy assets, as the advisors understand risk mitigation and post-acquisition integration from an operator’s perspective. This depth shifts the criteria for selection away from mere execution prowess towards proven domain knowledge.
Nelson Advisors' specialisation in Healthcare AI M&A directly correlates with the PE industry's need for expertise in asset valuation related to anticipated regulatory compliance, specifically the EHDS and EU AI Act. The necessary technical validation for a global PE fund to accurately value a nascent AI-driven diagnostic platform requires input beyond conventional M&A metrics.
The engagement of firms like Nelson Advisors, or specialised competitors like Artis Partners (focused on AI and DeepTech mandates), is not merely about transaction execution, but about deep technical validation. This suggests that leading PE funds utilise a sophisticated hybrid model, engaging a BB for capital structuring while retaining a boutique specialist for technical and regulatory diligence, thus transforming the specialist from a transaction advisor into a strategic technical partner.
Case Studies in PE Mandate Selection: Deconstructing Landmark Deals (2024-2025)
Recent landmark transactions involving major financial sponsors illustrate the complex dynamics of advisor selection and mandate execution in the European healthcare market.
The Stada LBO (€10 Billion): Multi-Bank Sell-Side Strategy
The sale of a majority stake in Stada, which valued the German drug group at €10 billion (including debt), was the largest European LBO deal of 2025. The selling sponsors, Bain Capital and Cinven, employed a highly diversified advisory team to maximise their exit value and ensure global market coverage.
The sell-side strategy was led by four distinct firms: Rothschild & Co and Jefferies were designated as lead sell-side M&A advisors, while Canson Capital Partners and Centerview Partners also played key financial advisory roles. This tactical deployment of multiple advisors illustrates a strategy of pairing an independent volume leader (R&Co) for expansive market coverage with a global sector specialist (Jefferies) to ensure the highest possible valuation from both strategic and financial buyers worldwide.
Furthermore, Bulge Bracket firms (Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, and Goldman Sachs) were retained as global IPO coordinators, confirming a strategic approach to maintaining a dual-track exit process (sale or IPO) to enhance competitive tension.
The CompuGroup Medical (CGM) Acquisition (€1.25 Billion Stake): Health IT Focus
In 2024, CVC Capital Partners, a leading global private equity firm, initiated a voluntary public tender offer for a stake in CompuGroup Medical (CGM), a major German e-health provider. The offer price implied a substantial premium, valuing the transaction highly.
As a high-profile take-private of a key German digital health infrastructure provider, this transaction necessitated exceptional legal and financial advisory depth in German corporate and regulatory law. This deal highlights the increasing focus of PE funds on acquiring resilient, large-scale health IT infrastructure as a core European investment thesis. The successful execution of this transaction by CVC demonstrates the need for advisors capable of navigating multi-jurisdictional legal and financial complexities in a public market context.
The Dechra Pharmaceuticals P2P (£4.5 Billion): Buy-Side Dual Mandate
The acquisition of Dechra Pharmaceuticals for approximately £4.5 Billion, taking the company private (P2P), was led by the financial sponsor EQT. EQT selected two major US Bulge Brackets, BofA Securities and Morgan Stanley, to act as its joint financial advisors on the buy-side.
The decision to mandate two global BBs for the buy-side confirms EQT’s requirement for maximum capital support, financing certainty, and global execution capacity in a large, highly visible P2P transaction. This reinforces the necessity of top-tier FSG coverage from global banks for multi-billion pound buyouts, particularly when a public company is involved. Conversely, Investec acted as the sole financial advisor to the target, Dechra.
Private Equity-Backed European HealthTech/MedTech Landmark Deals (2024-2025)
Conclusion and Strategic Recommendations for Private Equity Funds
The European HealthTech and MedTech M&A advisory landscape provides a diverse and competitive environment for private equity funds, structured into tiers based on capacity, specialisation, and market focus. The ability of a PE fund to maximise value and mitigate execution risk depends critically on selecting the appropriate advisory model for the specific transaction type.
Optimising Advisor Selection: A Matrix Approach
For PE funds, the choice of advisor should follow a strategic matrix approach, pivoting between the global scale of Bulge Brackets, the market depth of volume leaders, and the highly focused technical insight of niche specialists.
For Large-Cap Exits and Complex P2Ps: The optimal choice involves engaging Tier 1 Global Banks (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley) alongside leading independent volume experts (Rothschild & Co). This combination ensures both maximal global strategic buyer access and robust financing capabilities.The selection is driven by value maximisation and the need for institutional certainty.
For Mid-Market Roll-ups and Platform Build-ups: The focus shifts to Mid-Market Powerhouses with high European deal velocity and extensive regional networks. Firms like Clearwater International, the combined platform of Stifel/Bryan Garnier, and regional leaders like ODDO BHF are essential for efficient proprietary deal sourcing and execution across fragmented markets.
For Digital Asset Due Diligence and AI Acquisitions: Niche Specialists (Nelson Advisors, Artis Partners) are necessary for technical validation and risk assessment. For a PE fund acquiring a next-generation technology company, using a specialist proactively for valuation and technical risk assessment, particularly concerning compliance with the forthcoming EHDS and AI Act, is critical to optimising the term sheet phase and post-acquisition integration.
Strategic Recommendations for Engagement
Prioritise Banker Pedigree Over Institutional Ranking for Technical Deals: While league tables are useful indicators of capacity, the track record and sector focus of the individual senior banker (e.g., Philippe Gallone at GS, Thibault Poirier at R&Co, Paul Tomasic at HL) are often more valuable than the firm's overall rank. PE funds should prioritize firms that offer senior, relationship-led engagement, moving away from commoditized auctions for proprietary deals.
Employ Hybrid Advisory Mandates for HealthTech Assets: For transactions involving proprietary digital assets or AI platforms, retaining a traditional BB for capital structuring and a boutique specialist for technical, operational, and regulatory diligence is the most effective way to secure high valuations while mitigating unique technological risks.
Strategic Imperatives for PE Advisor Selection in HealthTech
Nelson Advisors > MedTech and HealthTech M&A
Nelson Advisors specialise in mergers, acquisitions and partnerships for Digital Health, HealthTech, Health IT, Consumer HealthTech, Healthcare Cybersecurity, Healthcare AI companies based in the UK, Europe and North America. www.nelsonadvisors.co.uk
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