Clipperton bolsters the firm’s leadership team with the promotions of Olivier Combaudou, Andreas Hering, and Martin Vielle to Partners
Clipperton is pleased to announce that Olivier Combaudou, Andreas Hering and Martin Vielle have been promoted to Partner. They will join the firm’s leadership team now composed of 10 experienced professionals based out of Paris, Berlin and Munich.
For the past 20 years, Clipperton has been committed to supporting its clients across their growth journey, and in doing so, has grown to a team of c. 50 employees in France and Germany. Martin and Olivier have been with Clipperton for over 10 years, evidence of the stability of the firm’s senior team. In Germany, the opening of a new office in Munich and the promotion of Andreas to Partner further reinforce Clipperton’s presence and influence in the DACH region.
In 2022, Clipperton closed 28 deals with a total deal value north of €4 billion, 70% of which involved cross-border investors or buyers. Landmark transactions include the sale of Dan.com to GoDaddy, the $500 million investment by Astorg in EcoVadis or the sale of In The Memory to SES-imagotag announced earlier this month.
Stéphane Valorge, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Clipperton, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Martin and Olivier to our partnership. Their presence with us for respectively 11 and 12 years illustrates the stability of our senior team and the deep sectorial expertise we have built over the years, with long-lasting relationships with both team members and clients.”
Nicolas von Bülow, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Clipperton, added: “It is great to see that we are strengthening our partnership in Germany with the addition of Andreas, and we are pleased to welcome him to the firm’s partnership. We look forward to solidifying Clipperton’s existing footprint in the DACH region and taking our German operations to the next level.”
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Olivier Combaudou joined Clipperton in 2011 and has participated in over 60 transactions since then, with a specific focus on Retailtech, cybersecurity and B2C models.
At Clipperton, Olivier has been involved in several landmark M&A deals such as Advens (sale of a minority stake to CAPZA), Private Sports Shop (merger with SportPursuit), In The Memory (sale to SES-imagotag), or Matooma (sale to Wireless Logic). He also advised several category leaders on their acceleration rounds, such as vLex, Inova, Sendinblue, Lengow, and Vestiaire Collective.
Before joining Clipperton, Olivier worked at Alven Capital where he participated in Series A/B rounds for tech companies. He then joined Carrefour working on pricing & development of new distribution models for the online non-food department.
Olivier is an HEC Paris alumnus and holds a Master’s in Digital Business Strategy from Telecom Paris (ENST).
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Andreas Hering joined Clipperton in 2022 as Executive Director and has since been leading the expansion of the Munich office. As a TMT M&A banker, Andreas brings 15 years of experience in mid-market transactions in the digital media, software & e-commerce sectors both in Munich and London, having previously served at goetzpartners.
With outstanding experience in buy-side and sell-side mandates as well as fundraising transactions for private equity and growth equity funds, corporates and startups, and a deep understanding of B2B and B2C business models in his focus areas of digital media, software and e-commerce, Andreas will continue to strengthen Clipperton’s advisory platform.
Andreas graduated from the University of Mannheim.
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Martin Vielle joined Clipperton in 2012, where he was involved in over 50 transactions with a particular focus on B2B software, mobility and deep tech.
Martin advised technology category leaders on their financial operations such as Aramisauto (sold to Stellantis), Ekimetrics (€25 million fundraising), Withings ($60 million fundraising), Foederis (sold to Septeo Group), or Didomi ($40 million Series B). He also assisted several high-profile investment funds including Ardian (€330m take-private of Artefact), Mérieux Private Equity (investment in DentalMonitoring) and MBO&Co (investment in Praxedo).
Before joining Clipperton, Martin worked at CM-CIC Corporate Finance where he was involved in several mid-cap M&A operations in the technology sector. Prior to that, he worked as a Strategy Consultant with AC Nielsen.
Martin is an ESSEC Business School alumnus and also studied at Schulich School of Business in Toronto, Canada.
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About Clipperton
Clipperton is a leading investment bank dedicated to technology and growth companies. We provide strategic and financial advisory to entrepreneurs, corporates, and top-tier investors in Europe willing to execute transactions such as strategic M&A, private equity transactions, and private placements. Founded in 2003 and with offices in Paris, Berlin, Munich, and London, Clipperton has completed over 350 M&A and private placement transactions with fast-growing technology start-ups, blue-chip corporates, and renowned financial investors.