Xeon International

Xeon International is an Investment boutique that provides a real alternative to existing investment banking models. We believe that investment banking, as in its current form, has become old-fashioned.
This industry has created the myth that everything should be complicated and accessible only to insiders; nothing is less true.
At Xeon International, we look at things differently because we believe clients and investors deserve to be treated with more transparency, respect and ethics: all in a language they do understand. We look at the business with the eyes of our investors and clients while our solutions are genuinely individual.
Xeon International is an exclusive boutique offering a mix of 4 services.
From Company Financing and Growth management advisory to Private Equity management and Family Office services, we accompany our investors and clients independently and in their best interest and according to their needs.

We cherish our lean and mean structure and do not believe in the efficiency of standardized and anonymous organisations where no one is in charge anymore.

Xeon International is headquartered in Luxembourg and has built a global presence.

Innovation is our commitment. That is why this website may look  different compared to what you have  experienced before especially if you are used to look at traditional players.

Welcome to a new universe of investment services!
Yves Duponselle- Chief Executive Officer Xeon International

Bangladesh has emerged as an extremely attractive alternative to the well established outsourcing destinations (China and India) when it comes to high labor-intensive manufacturing like Ready Made Garments (RMG), Footwear, Handbags, etc.
The country is ranked as the fourth biggest RMG exporter in the world.
Bangladesh’s democratic governance and political stability coupled with sound economic growth has attracted many manufacturers from all over the world. The country’s economy has grown at a healthy 5.8% per annum in the last decade. The forecasts indicate that Bangladesh should sustain GDP growth of 6% annually in the medium term.
The country’s plentiful and young workforce is contributing to the fast development of the country.

Ronny Showkat – Managing Partner at Xeon International- comments: ”The rising commodities prices and the recent social upraises have pushed the salaries in China, Thailand, India and the other low wage countries in South Asia higher, thus making Bangladesh a more competitive place for doing business. The market is soaring and new entrepreneurs appear every day.”

Bangladesh is also eligible for duty free access to the EU market for all products (except arms and ammunition) under the EU’s Generalized System of Preferences.

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within three functional areas: Project Financing – Fund Management & M&A – Growth Management.
Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.

Global M&A for the year to date stands at US$ 477.7bn, up 15% from Q1 2009. However the start of the year is down 18% from Q1 2008 and 41% from Q1 2007. Q1 2010 is the second strongest quarter in the last five quarters, after Q4 2009.

Largest ever Q1 for Asia-Pacific 
Propelled by the announcement of a number of mega-deals, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) started the new decade with a boom in M&A activity. Q1 2010 was the largest Q1 for Asia-Pacific on merger market records with a total deal value of US$ 103.3bn, 126% higher than Q1 2009. Deal volume is up 24%.

Europe suffers slowest first quarter since 1998
In the slowest first quarter since 1998, Q1 2010 Europe saw the announce¬ment of 856 M&A deals with a total value of US$ 115.4bn – down 3% from Q1 2009 by value and volume.
However, European private equity buyout activity started on a stronger note with deal values up by 233% compared to Q1 2009, at US$ 15.2bn – account¬ing for 46% of the value of global buyouts so far this year.

US suffers 22% drop in value
US M&A for the year to date stands at US$ 154bn, down 22% from Q1 2009 and down 24% from the previous quarter. With a total of 692 announced deals, deal activity is up 21% compared to Q1 09 but still down 11% on the final three months of last year.

Global private equity buyouts are steady
Buyout activity increased by 10% compared to Q1 2009 with a value of US$ 33.1bn. The largest buyout this year is Bain Capital’s acquisition of the US based Styron division of Dow Chemical, valued at US$ 1.6bn, followed close¬ly by KKR backing the management in the US$ 1.5bn buyout of UK based Pets At Home. Europe makes up 46% of the value of global buyouts so far this year.

48% drop in insolvency deals
Announced insolvency deals globally have dropped 48% in value compared to Q1 2009 and 82% compared to the peak achieved in Q2 2009. Activity by value is the lowest since Q4 2008.

Top deals of the quarter
Global: Prudential’s US$ 35.5bn acquisition of American International Assurance Company in March (also Asia-Pacific’s largest deal of the quarter).
Europe: Novartis exercises option to acquire 52% stake in Alcon for US$ 26.3bn in January.
Americas: America Movil SA de CV’s US$ 19.4bn acquisition of Carso Global Telcom SAB de CV in January.
US: MetLife acquiring American Life Insurance Company from AIG for US$ 15.5bn.

Dealogic, the pre-eminent provider of Global Investment Banking analysis and systems released its Q1 2010 figures for Global Project Finance.
Global volume reached $ 72.1bn, an increase of 49% compared with $48.4bn in Q1 2009 although only 146 projects reached financial close, down 13% on 167 in Q1 2009.

A total of 16 projects of $1.0bn or over reached financial close in Q1 2010, compared to just seven in the comparable 2009 period. This included the $7.6bn Nord Steam Gas Pipeline Phase 1 project, the second largest Eastern European project financing on record to reach financial close.

Asia recorded one of the largest increases in project financing with volume up 161% to $34.9bn compared to Q1 2009. The region was boosted by the $12.8bn Taiwan High Speed Rail refinancing, the largest project financing globally in Q1 2010.Australasia also saw a significant rise in volume, reaching $3.4bn compared to just $837m in Q1 2010.

Western Europe project finance volume was up 42% to $16.9bn in Q1 2010 compared with 12.0bn in Q1 2009.

Middle East & Africa project volume fell 57% to $2.8bn in Q1 2010 while North American volume fell 46% to just $2.6bn. Latin American & Caribbean project finance was also down with volume dropping 67% to $3.6bn in Q1 2010.

The Infrastructure sector led the industry ranking in Q1 2010 with volume of $26.1bn accounting for 36% of total project finance volume. The Energy/Power sector followed with $ 25.1bn and a 35% share of market.

Project Finance loan volume reached $58.5bn in Q1 2010, up 61% from Q1 2009 while bond financing fell 68% to just $461m. Equity finance rose 25% to 13.1bn.

Bank of Taiwan led the mandated arranger ranking with £12.9bn, followed by State Bank of India with $ 3.7bn.

Xeon International looks back on a VC study performed by DOW Jones VentureSource

“Despite the recent downturn in the Venture Capital investment industry, we remain confident, looking at the results of the 4th quarter 2009 and first quarter 2010, that the market is showing signs of recovery” says Yves Duponselle CEO of Xeon International.” Looking at the latest figures we can clearly observe that, signs are looking good for the future. The situation will not improve instantly but the improvement process has already begun.”

Non-US Venture-Backed Companies Collected $8.2 Billion in 2009; Europe Sees Worst Year of Decade; Investments in China Drop 56%

In most markets outside the US, the fourth quarter of 2009 was the best quarter of the year for venture capital investment, but it did little to boost the year’s annual totals. In the fourth quarter, venture capitalists invested $2.5 billion in 396 deals in Europe, Canada, Israel, China and India, a 24% drop from the $3.3 billion invested in 472 deals during same period last year, according to new global data from Dow Jones VentureSource. Throughout 2009, investors put $8.2 billion to work in 1,391 deals outside the US, a 47% drop from the $15.5 billion invested in 1,932 deals in 2008.

In the US, venture investors put $6.3 billion to work in 743 deals in the most recent quarter, a slight up tick from the same period in 2008. Throughout 2009, venture capitalists invested $21.4 billion into 2,489 deals for U.S. companies, a 31% drop compared with 2008.

European Investment Sees Worst Year of Decade*

In 2009, venture capitalists invested $4.4 billion (€3.2 million) in 916 deals for European companies, down 41% from the $7.4 billion (€5.1 billion) put into 1,234 deals in 2008. According to Dow Jones VentureSource, 2009 was the worst year for venture investment into European companies since the firm began tracking the region in 2000. In the fourth quarter, venture investors put $1.3 billion (€911 million) into 252 deals, a 28% drop from the $1.8 billion (€1.2 billion) put into 321 deals during the same period last year.

“In Europe, venture capitalists opened their wallets a little wider in the fourth quarter,” said Arno Castanet, research manager in Dow Jones VentureSource’s London office. “But with investors’ capital sources – fundraising and liquidity – still tight, entrepreneurs will continue to face intense competition for capital in 2010.”

“Our clients have difficulties to understand that we are really in a severe competition for capital in the market and that they should revise their effort and commitment policies if they want to get funded, mentions Yves Duponselle, CEO at Xeon international, “resulting from an unbalanced market situation between offer and demand ”.

Deals Sizes Shrink Worldwide

According to the data, the size of venture deals has decreased in all markets around the world since 2008. The median size of a venture capital deal in Europe dropped 24% from 2.9 million (€2 million) in 2008 to $2.2 million (€1.6 million) in 2009.

Mainland China had the highest median deal size of any region with $7 million in 2009, a 13% drop from the $8 million median in 2008.

India saw the most dramatic drop as the country ended 2009 with a $4 million median, down 44% from 2008. Canada’s median dial size fell almost one-third to $4.1 million and Israel’s median dropped almost 20% to $4.5 million.

The median round size in the U.S. was $4.7 million, down from $6 million seen in 2008.

A reduced “Deal Size” affects significantly the Project financing costs as most of capital searches require more investors to finance one project says Giancarlo d’Elia, CFO at Xeon International.

*All Europe investment figures based on weighted conversion rates of 1.459079 (2008) and 1.3851 (2009). All percentages were calculated using USD.

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within three functional areas: Project Financing – Fund Management & M&A – Growth Management.
Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.

Despite the credit crunch there is capital out there

As a consequence of the credit crunch numerous real estate developers are struggling to find financing for existing or future projects. Typical sources have dried up with banks unwilling to lend at the same rates as before, leaving developers with great opportunities that cannot materialize, with partially completed projects and debts that require refinancing.

“Despite the fact that conditions are quite uneasy there is capital available. Developers need to be guided in the right direction to facilitate their entrance into financial vehicles which recognize the potential, have the means and are willing to commit to real estate projects” according to Giancarlo d’Elia, CFO.

Investment funds have also been going through a lot of difficulties to raise capital in the past year. Normally this would result in less funds to be invested but this is not the case. As a matter of fact the cash reserves are still staying on quite significant levels. The reason is that the investment criteria became more selective than everand therefore less project have been finances.

Here comes the essential mission of Xeon International – to match the goals of the financial partner and the developer.

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within three functional areas: Project Financing – Fund Management & M&A – Growth Management.
Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.

Xeon International presents its sales and acquisitions opportunities

Following the growing demand from investors to study our Investment Opportunities we have decided to make our M&A catalogue public. The document is not extensive of all projects in our pipeline as many opportunities are not placed in for confidentiality reasons. All presented projects have been screened and approved by our Inorganic Growth division and each project’s Executive Summary could be provided upon request.

Keep yourselves regularly posted about these opportunities by informing us about your investment strategy in terms of geographical and industry focus and target size.Email us!

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within three functional areas: Project Financing – Fund Management & M&A – Growth Management.
Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.

Xeon International is emerging with an innovative fund raising concept after a recent in-house industry analysis

Fund raising and respectively project financing have been severely hit after the credit crunch. Today’s funding landscape has dramatically changed. Xeon International estimates that during 2009 about $160b will be raised on the European and US markets compared to nearly $400b in 2008. Re-thinking of Project Financing is very much needed.

The typical fund raising process is attractive when funds are abundant and when requirements are low. However, the traditional process is “lacking transparency” according to fund raising customers, “there are a lot of intermediaries”, “recurrent Due-Diligence costs are a burden”, “there is no budget control possible” are the recurrent comments.

“We create impact and visibility though our contact campaigns” said Yves Duponselle, CEO of Xeon International. He added that investors are only contacted if the fund raising project enters in their investment scope and if they have propensity to be interested. Xeon International is offering a global reach to investors across all continents.

Xeon International’s project financing process could be described as fully transparent. There are regular updates on the parallel processes within the financing mission. The preparation of comprehensible metrics which reflect the interest of the market for the particular project is also a piece of innovation for the clients of Xeon International. Transparency is delivered by complete visibility of all communications with the potential investors.

Besides, when Xeon International leads the process there’s only one Due Diligence performed during the Investment Memorandum preparation. Any further Due Diligence, when required, is covered by the Investor’s side.

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within three functional areas: Project Financing – Fund Management & M&A – Growth Management.
Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.

Monte Carlo Automobile appoints Xeon International for the development and implementation of its strategic outlines 2008-2012

MONACO, (BSW) – Xeon International, a European business value creation company established in Luxembourg in 2003, will assist the management team of Monte Carlo Automobile in the international development and implementation of Monte Carlo Automobile brand strategy.

Yves Duponselle, CEO of Xeon International comments: “Monte Carlo Automobile is naturally positioned in the so called “Goods of Passion” segment. This market niche is showing great growth potential and the demand for limited-edition products is soaring. In that context we will be deploying the Monte Carlo Automobile strategic plan in the coming years.”

According to Giancarlo d’Elia, CFO of Xeon International, “Monte Carlo Automobile’s business model is based on a maximum production capacity of a dozen cars per year and a very exclusive licencing concept of the brand. According to our most conservative estimations Monte Carlo Automobile should achieve turnover of not less than €15m over the next five years, generating extremely attractive double-digit EBITDA growth.”

Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients and investors by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within three functional areas: Project Financing – Fund Management & M&A – Growth Management.
Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients and investors.