ICG plc is using Excellera’s platform to scale in financial and corporate communications, with the acquisition of Alma Strategic Communications positioning London as a hub for capital-markets advisory work.
Excellera, backed by alternative asset manager Intermediate Capital Group (ICG), has acquired Alma Strategic Communications, a UK financial PR firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Why this deal, why now
The rationale is straightforward: financial communications is increasingly a must-have capability for multi-service corporate affairs groups serving listed companies, sponsors, and fast-growing issuers. Excellera framed the transaction as strengthening its financial communications capability in the UK and building on its presence in London, one of Europe’s key capital markets centers.
Alma’s core services cover M&A, IPOs, capital formation, investor communications, and crisis management. That set maps directly onto the advisory moments where clients are most willing to pay for speed, senior counsel, and credibility. For Excellera, Alma looks less like a standalone add-on and more like a capability anchor for a broader UK proposition.
What changes for Excellera
Excellera said the combination creates an integrated financial and corporate communications proposition with broader access to capabilities across the business. In practice, that implies a tighter linkage between:
- Financial communications (Alma’s core) and corporate affairs, including public affairs and data intelligence (highlighted by Excellera as part of its wider services)
- Transaction-led mandates (M&A, IPOs, capital formation) and ongoing corporate reputation and stakeholder work
Excellera also positioned the acquisition as part of an international growth strategy, with the deal adding Alma to its platform and taking the combined group to about 400 staff across 15 offices.
Integration is the underwriting risk
Services roll-ups often win on breadth, but they can lose value quickly if integration disrupts delivery or dilutes senior attention. Excellera and Alma have tried to pre-empt that concern: Alma’s partners will retain operational and strategic roles and will reinvest a significant portion of their proceeds in the group.
Key execution questions now move to:
- Go-to-market overlap: how quickly Excellera can cross-sell Alma’s financial communications into existing relationships, without confusing account ownership or pricing.
- Operating model: whether Alma remains a distinct brand in the UK or is integrated into a unified Excellera offering, and how that affects talent retention.
- Systems and workflow: integration of client management, pipeline reporting, and delivery processes, which is often where multi-office professional services groups either professionalise or fragment.
- Leadership bandwidth: maintaining senior coverage on high-stakes mandates while also driving collaboration across offices.
A with-trend move in European corporate affairs
The transaction reads as strategic consolidation around financial communications, a segment that has benefited from sustained capital markets activity, shareholder activism, and elevated scrutiny on disclosure and governance. Excellera’s emphasis on complementary capabilities suggests it is building a broader corporate affairs stack rather than collecting disconnected agencies.
ICG’s backing reinforces a sponsor-style playbook: expand the footprint, deepen specialist capabilities, and create a group that can win mandates that single-market boutiques struggle to service. The reinvestment by Alma’s partners also aligns incentives with that scale-building agenda.
What to watch next
- Evidence of cross-office collaboration translating into joint wins in financial communications and corporate affairs
- Partner retention at Alma over the next 12-18 months and the depth of the second line
- Whether Excellera continues with UK bolt-ons to broaden sector coverage or regional reach beyond London
- Any changes to brand architecture and how that impacts client perception in the UK financial PR market
- Signals from ICG and Excellera on the pace of international expansion following this London build-out