European explosives market landscape for a PE-backed Fortune 500
The Assignment
Company Background: A PE-backed Fortune 500 specialty chemicals manufacturing company willing to better understand the European landscape of players who manufacture explosives (including weapons systems and/or explosives for other needs like mining)
Research Goal: They want to understand the explosives space in Europe:
List of players and companies
Positioning in the European market (are they growing? declining?)
Client: M&A leadership team
REKOLT’s proposition to gather, analyze, and present insights
The focus will be on identifying key players, their market positioning, financial health, regulatory compliance, and potential for expansion.
Methodology overview
The methodology is detailed below with a specific example applied to France. This serves as a guiding framework, subject to further refinement and specification during the course of the project. This approach, combines quantitative data analysis with qualitative insights. The methodology, while outlined with specifics for France, provides a template adaptable to other European countries.
Identification of legal entities
List companies under the relevant EPA code "2051Z - Fabrication de produits explosifs", identifying the primary branch of activity.
Source: List of the legal entities from Portail de la Publicité Légale des Entreprises, and then need to aggregate entities under their respective companies
Results for code APE 2051Z
Financial and economic attributes
Assess financial health and economic performance through analysis of financial statements.
Method: Purchase and automate retrieval of financial statements using the Pappers API
Example of Financial Statements for the French Company EPC
Regulatory compliance as an expansion indicator
Since the industry is regulated with location-specific authorizations required for new facilities, these grants, published on government websites, will indicate the expansion of the companies. In France, relevant authorizations include “Produits explosifs destinés à un usage civil (Articles R2352-21 à R2352-121-7)” for civil use or “production et de vente de produits explosifs destinés à un usage militaire” for military use.
Source for this information is the publication of decrees on LegiFrance, extracting company name, date, location, and intended use
List of “Arrêtés” granted for military use
Understanding company dynamics
Analyzing job offer publications to understand growth dynamics and focus areas
Corporate Publications and Industry News: review annual reports and relevant news articles to gauge company strategies, industry trends, and market opportunities
Potential Expert Consultations: engage with industry experts for targeted insights, filling gaps identified through primary data collection
Output and deliverables
The project will produce a detailed Excel database cataloging key company attribute, including but not limited to financial data, regulatory compliance, and market positioning. This will be complemented by a slide deck offering a narrative on market dynamics, strategic positioning of major players, and potential initiatives for expansion or investment.