Sectors
Business Services
The business services sector is transforming the 21st
century economy, as companies increasingly rely on key partners to deliver
superior performance combined with significant cost savings.
As a large, diverse and rapidly-expanding sector, business services is
driven by growth in the domestic and international economy, technological
and process innovation, and the increasing prominence of outsourcing and
offshoring. Business services can be essentially local in their delivery
such as equipment rental or can be delivered by global networks to
global clients such as hedge fund administration. In either case, the
leading players distinguish themselves by building unique operational
expertise across a few core areas and using fundamentally new operational
approaches to serve customers, deploy technology and drive communication.
The companies partnered by aarcbusiness.com are well-established
businesses that work within four broadly-defined sub-sectors:
- Industrials including a wide range of traditional
manufacturers and outsourced industrial service providers.
- Professional services leveraging intellectual capital to
deliver knowledge services that range from consultancy to training.
- Process outsourcing managing key operational functions for
clients to deliver radical improvements in service quality and sharp
reductions in cost.
- Technology enabled services deploying state-of-the-art
systems and platforms to bring efficiency and innovation to the
heart of clients’ business activities.
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Ii is an attractive partner for these businesses
because of its: :
- Established track record of investing across the services sector;
- Global network which supports the creation of world-wide
operators.
- Access to experienced industrialists who are able to support
entrepreneurial management teams.
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Media
Media is a dynamic, wide-ranging sector. Most of the
opportunities we see fall into three areas:
- Broadcasting and entertainment including all forms of TV,
radio, internet and mobile broadcasting, the creators and owners of
content, and suppliers of allied services.
- Publishing and information ranging from newspapers,
through to directories and business information.
- Marketing services services to marketing and advertising,
including market research.
- Marketing services services to marketing and advertising,
including market research.
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Media markets are simultaneously global and local,
distinct and linked. In this complex mix, one theme stands out:
technology-driven change, and its huge impact on producers and consumers.
New online operators have quickly gained market share in areas like
recruitment advertising and information supply, to the detriment of
traditional players. Meanwhile, the proliferation of new channels enables
consumers to find just what they want, when, where and how they want it
ending the mass audience and threatening traditional advertising models.
These trends bring uncertainty and will create winners and losers in every
part of the sector. There is no simple recipe for success but the companies
most likely to win are those which:
- Build scale and efficiency: in a market like Europe that is still
dominated by regional players, there is significant scope for
consolidation, particularly in the B2B segment, where language and
cultural issues are less of a barrier.
- Originate or control ‘must-have’ content: as more and
more channels compete for attention, consumers will choose those
with the essential content placing the content owners in
powerful positions.
- Originate or control ‘must-have’ content: as more and
more channels compete for attention, consumers will choose those
with the essential content placing the content owners in
powerful positions.
- Successfully move from analogue to digital: above all, businesses
need to understand how to adapt their model to the digital world and
migrate effectively, taking customers and revenue streams with them.
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Technology
Technology is a dynamic, varied industry that’s
driving many of the changes we see in the world today. It’s
distinguished by its rapid pace and the potential for radical new
departures. Following a pause in 2000-2003, technology businesses are once
again growing quickly. It’s one of the few sectors where international
borders have limited impact and a company can go from start-up to global
giant in less than a decade.
WE ARE, providing consistent support at all stages of the economic and
technological cycles. We’ve worked with numerous entrepreneurs to turn
innovative ideas into fast-growing revenue streams. The businesses we
support operate in four main sub-sectors:
- Software and internet: Collaboration is often the theme, as
specialist programs and networking websites enable people to work,
socialize and trade together more effectively.
- Telecoms: The world’s second-largest industry offers many
opportunities to providers whose applications boost a range of
processes from handset functionality to network management.
- Electronics and semiconductors: As more and more devices become
intelligent, many businesses are exiting commoditized manufacturing
and focusing on the supply of added-value solutions.
- IT services: Instead of simply operating clients’ IT
infrastructure, service providers are now running key business
processes. Consolidation and offshoring are building scale and
efficiency.
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Our Expertise helps us understand emerging trends, our
Nordic network puts us at the heart of developments in mobile technology,
and provide knowledge of the latest manufacturing techniques. We use these
insights to benefit the businesses we partner globally and we help companies
grow by introducing them to new customers, partners and sources of
innovation.
Oil, Gas and Power
We focus on supplying growth capital to expanding
businesses and buying existing businesses with growth potential. On a
selective basis, we also make early-stage venture investments in exciting
oilfield technologies.
The upstream sector has two main elements:
- Exploration and production (E&P) companies discover, develop
and produce hydrocarbons, own and license reserves, and finance and
manage operations.
- Oil services are mostly contracted out to a large and broad
sector, which provides products, people and technology for all
elements of drilling, construction and production.
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We also invest in the midstream gas and power sector,
which includes companies that generate, store and transmit energy. The
changing dynamics of the industry are creating numerous opportunities for
private equity to support entrepreneurial companies with ambitious
management:
- The oil, gas and power service industry is showing strong growth
driven by increasing global energy demand.
- High oil prices are here for the foreseeable future, driven by
economic growth in Asia.
- Reserves are concentrated in the Middle East and Russia,
benefiting those who can operate there successfully.
- Elsewhere, the industry is fragmenting as established producing
areas like the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and South East Asia mature.
Elsewhere, the industry is fragmenting as established producing areas
like the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and South East Asia mature. |
Consumer
We focus our consumer investing in 4 key areas: food &
beverages, leisure, retail and consumer goods. Each of these segments are
effected by a number of global and economic factors including rising levels
of general wealth and an aging population in most markets. Most
spectacularly we are seeing the rise of a new consumer class in India and
China. In India alone there is a middle class of some 400m people.
In addition many consumer markets are seeing some strong trends
- Time poor consumers seeking convenience
- A desire for a healthier, more natural and environmentally
friendly lifestyle
- A polarization of markets between high end brands and value
brands with the middle being squeezed
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:: Services ::
