FOCUS Investment Banking Represents The LABRADOR Group in its acquisition of Argyle
Washington, DC, (June 8, 2023) – FOCUS Investment Banking (“FOCUS”), a national middle market investment banking firm providing merger, acquisition, divestiture and corporate finance services, announced today that the LABRADOR group, is a leading global communication firm specializing in corporate disclosure documents, headquartered in Paris, France, has acquired Argyle. FOCUS advised LABRADOR in this transaction.
The group has been assisting listed companies in communicating and developing financial and non-financial documents (URD, ESEF, DPEF, CSR, climate reports, etc.) for 30 years. LABRADOR has become the French leader in this market with a positioning focused on the transparency of financial and extra-financial information.
Thanks to its unique know-how, the group has established long-term relationships with blue chips companies: Société Générale, Publicis Groupe, EDF, Airbus, Engie, Sanofi, Veolia. Since 2010, LABRADOR has also developed a very successful subsidiary in the United States with customers such as Delta, Google/Alphabet, Caterpillar, Activision, Moderna.
Argyle is a leading advisory and creative services provider for US public company shareholder communications. Founded in 2014, Argyle is experiencing robust growth in the U.S. market with approximately 130 clients in 2022. Argyle’s client list includes the world’s top corporate issuers and comprises a meaningful share of the Fortune 50, 100, 250, and 500 such as Coca-Cola, HP, Citi, Walmart, 3M, Levi’s.
With the acquisition of Argyle, the LABRADOR group is achieving its strategic priority to create a multinational company with offices in Paris, Atlanta, New York and Manila. LABRADOR and Argyle, with 91 and 200 employees respectively, share the same DNA and the same vision of transparency: “Our mission is Transparency by design. It’s not magic: it’s a requirement and a working method. Argyle has exactly that culture. As such, we are already part of the same family,” explains Laurent Rouyrès, President of the LABRADOR group. Iain Poole, Founding managing director of Argyle comments: ” We are pleased to see Argyle now combined with LABRADOR. Joining LABRADOR is an obvious choice on a human and strategic level. Not only do we share the same vision and the same values, but we also have a tremendous complementarity to exploit, in our expertise as well as in our operations.”
This acquisition represents a decisive step in the Group’s growth. LABRADOR is now the independent leader in regulated information for listed companies in France and the United States. It also reinforces and strengthens its expertise in a context where issuing companies are increasingly subject to detailed reporting on their activities, not only in terms of financial information but also in terms of social, societal and governance issues.
The LABRADOR group now supports more than 2 out of 3 companies in the French SBF 120 and more than 1 out of 2 companies in the American Fortune 100. The transaction is entirely financed by debt with a banking group arranged by BNP-Paribas and Société Générale* for a total amount of 23 million.
*These testimonials may not be representative of the experience of all clients; testimonials are not a guarantee of future performance or success.
Prior to joining FOCUS, Rick served as Vice President at VSI, a boutique investment banking firm located in Washington, DC. He led M&A activities for publicly and privately held companies in the middle market, several of which have annual revenues in excess of $1 Billion. Rick’s clients were involved in a wide array of transactions; from acquisitions and divestitures to minority interests and strategic partnerships.
In addition to his experience with clients, Rick has lectured to hundreds of senior executives on M&A best practices and has been an adjunct faculty member for The George Washington University School of Business and Public Management. His M&A teachings focused on coaching companies and senior executives in how to build an acquisition team, create a winning strategy, identify and engage not-for-sale companies, streamline company valuation, perform value added due diligence and techniques for financial modeling. Rick has also served as a U.S. representative to South African companies in the capacity of advisor and consultant on business linkages, partnering and financing for small and medium businesses.
He holds an MBA in International Business and Finance from The George Washington University. He earned a BS in Engineering from Michigan State University. After completing an undergraduate program in engineering, Rick spent several years working as a manufacturing engineer and supervisor for General Motors. In this role he was responsible for the quality and productivity of manufacturing teams. In addition to being recognized as an outstanding team leader and team builder, Rick implemented a number of process improvements which enhanced product quality and efficiency at numerous GM production facilities.
