Aquisis

From energy costs to credit ratings: The multifaceted financial and business risks of climate change

RESEARCH PULSE

Climate change imposes significant economic risks, from escalating energy costs to reduced productivity and creditworthiness. Rising temperatures impact industries by decreasing labor efficiency, shrinking local demand, and lowering GDP growth, particularly in discretionary sectors. Credit ratings are impacted by climate change due to physical (operational disruption) and transition risks (regulatory shifts). Adaptive firms incorporate climate awareness into strategies, leveraging external partnerships to enhance expertise. Proactive management ensures resilience, enabling businesses to navigate evolving environmental, economic, and regulatory challenges effectively.

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Intangible investments, R&D, and management practices shaping the transatlantic productivity divergence

RESEARCH PULSE

Productivity growth in both the U.S. and Europe has fallen below long-term averages over the past decade, despite increased investments in technology. Between 1990 and 2000, productivity experienced a sharp rise driven by the widespread adoption of computers, a trend further supported by the growth of broadband and business software in the following years. While overall productivity has slowed, U.S. firms have been more successful in adopting advanced digital technologies, whereas European firms have struggled to keep pace, with inefficient management practices limiting their ability to fully capitalize on technological advancements.

Europe's lower R&D spending, coupled with structural factors and challenges in translating R&D into productivity, contributes to its widening productivity gap with the U.S. Family-owned businesses, prevalent in Europe, often display weaker innovation and management practices, further exacerbating this divergence. Strengthening collaboration with external partners represents a practical approach to mitigating these inefficiencies.

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Adapting Strategies to Evolving Trade Policies and Global Value Chain Dynamics

RESEARCH PULSE

Trade policies significantly reshape global value chains, influencing firm strategies. Companies adapt through locational, market, and supplier switching while upgrading production processes to enhance value. Trade restrictions, such as U.S. tariffs on China, affect not only the targeted countries but also global supply chains, raising costs for dependent firms. Tariffs on low-value imports have become a prominent focus on international policy agendas, with governments increasingly targeting these products. Research shows that affected firms have increased R&D investments, often supported by government subsidies, to navigate these challenges.

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Powering financial growth and resilience with strategic ESG excellence

RESEARCH PULSE

Effective Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices are crucial for enhancing company value, as they tend to align with strong financial performance. They not only drive value creation but also build resilience in crises through increased stakeholder trust. Owners play a critical role in advancing ESG performance by employing legitimate engagement strategies, such as providing insights on emerging issues and fostering shareholder collaboration. Transparency in ESG initiatives further enhances reputation and enables accurate assessments by rating agencies. However, interest in ESG initiatives among asset managers has declined since 2021, highlighting challenges in commitment. Inconsistencies among ESG rating providers further emphasize the need for standardization and ongoing dedication to ESG improvements.

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Insight Nuggets

Some of our recent bite-sized insight nuggets. See all of them here

Innovation imperative: How businesses can learn from consumer behavior and R&D strategies to redefining market leadership

"Google had this seemingly insurmountable position in search, but the advent of AI has fundamentally shifted the landscape," notes Melissa Schilling. "AI is to search what e-commerce was to Walmart." Her observation serves as a reminder that even the most dominant players are vulnerable to disruption through innovation and new product launches.

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Price reductions across markets: retailers, luxury brands, and wine producers adjust to evolving consumer expectations

General prices of goods have risen steadily in recent years, driven by a combination of factors such as escalating input costs, particularly energy prices, and supply chain disruptions. In recent months, price reductions have emerged as a strategic focus across diverse market segments, from essential goods to luxury items and premium wine.

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How lower interest rates and political clarity are reviving M&A activity, is there an emerging acquisition wave?

The most significant factor driving M&A recovery is the easing of monetary policy. After a record-breaking surge in deal activity in 2021, M&A volumes declined sharply in 2022 as central banks raised interest rates to combat inflation. However, the environment for dealmaking is improving.

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Top Countries and Cities for FT300 growth champions

Major European cities are driving enterprise growth, with the digital sector leading as a key driver for future development

The FT's Europe’s Long-Term Growth Champions, highlights 300 companies that have maintained strong sales growth despite economic challenges. Germany and Italy feature more often to be expected given their size.

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Luxury market €20bn slowdown: U.S. and experiential segments drive hope for recovery in 2025

After experiencing robust growth in the previous decade, the luxury sector is now facing a slowdown with only a moderate recovery expected for 2025

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Outdated strategies make even profitable companies vulnerable to activist investors

Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has amassed a $5 billion stake in Honeywell International and is calling on the company to break itself apart. Strategic and operational improvements are becoming a primary focus in activist campaigns.

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Tariff wars are pushing companies to adapt rapidly to maintain competitiveness amid geopolitical tensions

Geopolitical tensions are projected to further disrupt global supply chains, with electric vehicles (EVs) exemplifying the challenges posed by escalating competition among the U.S., China, and the EU, particularly into 2025.

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Bank of Italy's report: companies must prioritize growth opportunities

According to the Bank of Italy's latest report, a substantial 52% of manufacturing segments reported a year-on-year contraction.

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About

Aquisis offers independent strategy advice built on bespoke analyses

Aquisis' approach is based on an investor mindset and a priority on generating value for owners

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For investors

Aquisis was built out of years of experience in private equity consulting. Supporting investor decision making with structured advice, marrying the investor mindset with consultants' eyes, is what Aquisis is all about
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For Corporations

Aquisis' services for publicly traded corporations lever our expertise at the intersection of investor mindset a strategy consultants' eyes. Focus is hence on the one hand to enable corporate managers to see their own company through the eyes of an investor. On the other hand, Aquisis can help corporates act with the rigor of an investor when looking to acquire targets.
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For SMEs

Aquisis supports ambitious SMEs who want to take a strategic look at their business to generate value. In addition, we help startups and scale-up to professionalize and prepare for fundraising
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Strategy diagnostic

If you don't mind regularly spending a few hundred dollars to protect the value of your car (~ 0.5% of value), you surely understand that a regular check-up on your company's strategy makes sense - and will come a lot cheaper relative to the value.

Private markets investors create value by seeing value and -more importantly- untapped value creation potential, and then utilizing high-powered incentives to realize them. Aquisis takes a cue from this playbook to help private companies generate sustainable value for generations. For an insider, key value levers may be invisible and big changes may go unnoticed when they come creeping up. The strategy diagnostic addresses this issue.

Value

The central tenet of Aquisis is value: We help entrepreneurs create value, investors identify value levers, retiring founders realise value they created, and owner families preserve and grow value for the next generation. Value is not an expression of short-term accounting metrics or exposure to trends, but a fundamental and forward-looking metric.

We believe that bespoke analyses of quality data are paramount for sound decisions, but we also know that value creation always requires this to be augmented with a people-centric approach of communication and listening. Value as a principle also means that we are uncompromising in our commitment to the highest ethical standards.

Partners & Memberships

Aquisis partners with select other professional services firms that adhere to Aquisis' high standards as well as leading industry associations:
AM&AA, the Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors is the leading association of advisors for mid-market M&A in the United States.
epp is an independent investigations bureau and advisory, focusing on the digital realm. epp and aquisis partner in the field of supporting corporates and long-term investors understand vulnerabilities and identify activist investor threats.
metaBeratung is a management consultancy operating in DACH. Personality matters at metaBeratung: through Hogan personality assessments the team consults medium-sized and DAX companies in making the right hiring decisions and identify future potentials for development.
S&P Global is the leading global provider of company and market data in addition to a deep trove of industry-specific data.

From energy costs to credit ratings: The multifaceted financial and business risks of climate change

Intangible investments, R&D, and management practices shaping the transatlantic productivity divergence

Targeting Value:
Learning from Activist Investors

Planning Ahead Firm Strategy and Contingency
Plan

Adapting Strategies to Evolving Trade Policies and Global Value Chain Dynamics

Private equity challenges and the surge of private credit: Capital opportunities for non-traditional risk profiles

Powering financial growth and resilience with strategic ESG excellence