Specialist global firm launched to support tier 1 investors and strategic acquirers in technology and professional services sectors

Artemis Origination has been spun out of specialist investment bank Equiteq as an independent advisory firm in response to significant demand for its buy-side M&A origination services. The new company is led by Paul Dondos, previously Managing Director of Global Buyside, Strategic Advisory and Market Intelligence at Equiteq.

Focused on Deal Origination

Artemis is 100% focused on deal origination, enabling clients to identify and approach targets for investment or acquisition. The company has already secured a number of new global engagements for clients targeting software and professional services acquisitions, while also enabling clients to invest in adjacent sectors, beyond the former ‘knowledge economy’ niche.

Paul Dondos, CEO Artemis Origination, explains: “Artemis represents the definitive next step in our growth, given unrelenting appetite for M&A across the software and professional services spaces. Our focus on these complex but highly in-demand sectors, combined with our systematic, tech- and relationship- enabled approach, has brought us an expanding portfolio of repeat clients. As well as yielding dozens of transactions, we are developing hundreds of live relationships with owners of target businesses that have not yet transacted, steadily increasing our effectiveness as originators.

He continued: “We are excited by the opportunity to grow and proliferate as an independent business, helping buyers and investors deploy their capital more effectively into the innovation frontier. Our ‘disinterested interest’ in helping owners on the other side of that investment through the scale challenges that come with being highly successful innovators is particularly motivating. We believe it represents a shift towards more positive purpose in investment banking.”

Forming a Specialist Deal Origination Team

Dondos is joined by a number of former Equiteq colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic, ensuring continuity of client service and allowing Artemis to launch without interruption to its established growth path.

The launch is exceptionally timely. M&A volumes in technology and professional services are at an all-time high having recovered swiftly after Q2 2020. Investors and acquirers are increasingly locking horns over a limited supply of quality, actionable targets. These agile, cash generative firms enable corporate transformation through various blends of IP (often SaaS) and expertise (consulting), and have been in high demand ever since digitization embedded itself at the top of the C-suite agenda during the Pandemic. Consequently, the need for specialist M&A advisors has also increased, in particular where domain knowledge and relationships can provide access to smart, off-market deals. Artemis Origination is well-placed to respond to these challenges.

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