Insider Dealmakers Awards 2018
Last week’s Dealmakers awards showcased & celebrated the deal-making industry’s achievements over the last year. It was a great night compèred by Rugby and TV Star Matt Dawson Rowan proudly sponsored the event for the 4th consecutive year and in particular the Deal of the Year (£10-£50m category), which was awarded to Central Square Holdings, for their simultaneous acquisitions of Styles & Wood Group plc and Southerns Ltd (Tosca Debt Capital, Hill Dickinson, Pinsent Masons, Shore Capital, Numis Securities, KPMG, Erskine Chambers).
See further information below of this award and the other winners: Deal of the Year (£10m to £50m)
Sponsored by: Rowan Partners
Winner: Central Square Holdings’ simultaneous acquisitions of Styles & Wood Group plc and Southerns Ltd. The judges said this was a happy ending to a tough story and one where a good business has flourished.
Highly commended: Waterland’s investment into Gas Tag (Waterland, Deloitte, Hill Dickinson, Brabners)
Shortlisted:
- Sale of Centriq to Körber AG (Clearwater International, Beyond Corporate, Squire Patton Boggs, Armstrong Watson, KPMG, RSM, Ecovis, Taylor Wessing, EY)
- Converge TS private equity investment (Clearwater International, Tenzing, BDO, CIL, Osborne Clarke, Intuitus, Continuum, Deloitte, Ward Hadaway, CLB Coopers)
- Best Dressed Group’s acquisition of Jigsaw (Eversheds Sutherland, Addleshaw Goddard, Secure Trust Bank, Fieldfisher, TLT Solicitors)
- Livingbridge investment into Superbike Factory (Living Bridge, TLT Solicitors, DWF, Deloitte, Javelin, BDO, KBS Corporate)
- MBO of Lakelovers (KPMG, LDC, Grant Thornton UK LLP, DLA Piper, CIL, Pinsent Masons, BDO) BGF funding for APS Group (BGF, Turner Parkinson, Rickitt Mitchell, DWF, Gateley plc)
Following on from presenting the award Paul Waite, Director at Rowan, said “It was a great night. A room filled with impressive deal-makers and worthy winners. The host Matt Dawson was very entertaining and did a fantastic job of leading the awards.” Other winners were:
Alternative Finance Provider of the Year Winner: Tosca Debt Capital
The judges said Tosca Debt Capital stood out by a country mile and was a great success story for the whole region.
Shortlisted:
- MSIF
- Seneca Partners
Corporate Finance Advisory Team of the Year Winner: Rothschild & Co
There were some exceptionally good entries and some superb deals, but judges said Rothschild had had a truly standout year. Highly commended: GCA Altium
Shortlisted:
- Deloitte
- PwC
- KPMG
Mid-Market Team of the Year Winner: Grant Thornton UK LLP
Grant Thornton has been prolific in all ends of the deals market but the judges felt they really stood out in the mid-market.
Shortlisted:
- Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance
- Hurst
- Rickitt Mitchell
Law Firm of the Year Winner: Addleshaw Goddard
The judges said Addleshaw Goddard has done deals that take your breath away.
Highly commended: Napthens Solicitors
Shortlisted:
- DWF
- Pinsent Masons
- Squire Patton Boggs
- DLA Piper
- Turner Parkinson
Bank Team of the Year Winner: Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank
The judges said Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank are a true ‘corporate finance’ bank in terms of being committed to supporting deals in the North West. Their list of deals is impressive in terms of supporting non-client corporate finance transactions.
Shortlisted:
- Barclays
- HSBC UK Bank plc
- Lloyds Bank
Private Equity/Venture Capital Team of the Year Winner: Equistone
What swayed the judges were two of the deals that Equistone were involved in – Travel Counsellors and Concept Life Sciences.
Highly commended: BGF
Shortlisted:
- NorthEdge Capital
- LDC
- Palatine Private Equity
Transaction Services Team of the Year Winner: PwC
The judges said that all the Big Four provided similar transaction services but felt PwC were ahead of the pack.
Shortlisted:
- Deloitte
- KPMG
- EY
- BDO
- Mazars
- Dow Schofield Watts Transaction Services
Deal of the Year (sub £10m) Winner: Hello Soda £5.5m fund raise (NVM Private Equity, Clydesdale Yorkshire Bank, Dow Schofield Watts CF, Hill Dickinson, Pinsent Masons, Grant Thornton UK LLP)
This deal was described as a difficult transaction involving a really good business.
Highly commended: Acquisition of HCS STERIS by Vernacare (Palatine Private Equity, Deloitte, DLA Piper, Gateley plc, Tosca Debt Capital, HSBC)
Shortlisted:
- £6.5m BGF investment second round into Kids Planet (BGF, Pinsent Masons, Barclays, Alexander and Co, HRC Law)
- The Co-op Group’s acquisition of Simplify Probate (Co-op Group Corporate Development, Dow Schofield Watts CF, Pinsent Masons)
- Foresight Group’s Investment into DA Languages (Foresight Group, Grant Thornton UK LLP, Gateley plc, RPL, MSC R&D, Catalysis Capital Partners, Vista Insurance Brokers, Rohans)
- NVM Growth investment into CurrentBody (NVM Private Equity, Pannone Corporate, Pinsent Masons, Dow Schofield Watts CF, GP Bullhound, Sempora Management Consultants)
Deal of the Year (£50m plus) Winner: Sale of Concept Life Sciences (Equistone, Rothschild & Co, Addleshaw Goddard)
The judges remarked that this deal saw Equistone ‘win on the way in and win on the way out’ as they sold Concept Life Sciences to the London Stock Exchange-listed company Spectris.
Highly commended: The Delivery Group’s sale of P2P Mailing to FedEx (Hill Dickinson, PwC, Baker McKenzie, BDO, Stephens Scown)
Shortlisted:
- Acquisition of Crawford Healthcare by Acelity ( KPMG, DLA Piper)
- Sale of IESA ( GCA Altium, gunnercooke, Deloitte, CIL, Intuitus)
- Norcross acquisition of Merlyn Industries (Rothschild & Co, McCann Fitzgerald, Grant Thornton UK LLP, Addleshaw Goddard, CIL, PwC, Numis Securities)
- Sale of WHP Telecoms (Palatine Private Equity, Equistone Private Equity, Clearwater International, BDO, Analysys Mason, Addleshaw Goddard, PwC, Convex, Mills and Reeve, Pinsent Masons)
- Sale of de Poel Group to Geometric Results Inc (Rothschild & Co, Tosca Debt Capital, DLA Piper, Santander, KPMG, Addleshaw Goddard)
- Co-operative Group’s acquisition of Nisa Retail (KPMG, Pinsent Masons, Burges Salmon, OC&C, Deloitte, Oxera, Lazards, DLA Piper, Javelin, Barclays)
- Vitruvian Partners secondary buyout of Travel Counsellors (GCA Altium, Marlborough Partners, Mayer Brown, OC&C, FTI Consulting, CG Consultancy, White Hart Associates, Rothschild & Co, Deloitte, LEK, Pinsent Masons)
International Deal of the Year Winner: Sale of Crawford Healthcare to Acelity (KPMG, DLA Piper, RBC Capital Markets, PwC, Cooley)
The judges remarked how this saw a sale for far more than for what the business was bought. It was a US buyer in a highly regulated market. It was a high-tech deal and one that saw the company go from distressed to £100m.
Shortlisted:
- Sale of Baywater Healthcare to Bastide Le Confort ( DC Advisory, DLA Piper, Bamburgh Capital, Turner Parkinson)
- Lundy Projects sale to Alpiq (PwC, Squire Patton Boggs, Eversheds Sutherland)
Flotation of the Year Winner: Floating of Immotion Group on AIM (WH Ireland, Shard Capital)
The judges said it was an impressive raise for an early stage tech company.
Shortlisted:
- Floating of Footasylum to AIM (Eversheds Sutherland, GCA Altium, Liberum Capital, Grant Thornton UK LLP, Jones Day, Powerscourt)
- Floating of Anexo on AIM ( Arden Partners, RSM)
Asset Based Lending Deal of the Year Winner: Funding facility for N Brown Group (Rothschild & Co, Deloitte, KPMG, HSBC, RBS/NatWest Markets, Eversheds Sutherland)
The judges pointed out that it was N Brown itself which nominated this deal, not advisers, testament to a deal that has enabled an innovative retail structure.
Shortlisted:
- ABL facility to Castlerock Recruitment (Close Brothers, Plutus Corporate Finance, Dow Schofield Watts CF, Duff & Phelps, Bermans)
- ABL debt package for re-acquisition of Renthal by previous owner Henry Rosenthal from Motorsport Aftermarket Group (Praetura, Hurst, DWF)
Outstanding Contribution Award Winner: Amin Amiri, a2e Industries Limited
Amin was a top dealmaker in the 1990s and head of Grant Thornton’s corporate finance until 2000. Since founding a2e in 2001 he has acquired controlling stakes in 28 mid-market companies. He is a visionary, role model and leading light in the North West deals market.
Young Dealmaker of the Year Winner: Charlie Morris, KPMG
Charlie was picked out in a very difficult category to decide with all three young dealmakers impressing the judges.
Shortlisted:
- James Painter, Palatine Private Equity
- Matthew Pomroy, Foresight Group
Dealmaker of the Year Winner: Phil Adams, GCA Altium
The judges said Phil played a lead role in the merger of Altium and GCA and since then has led the business to greater and greater success, culminating in the current year with spectacular deals such as the flotation of Team 17.
Shortlisted:
- Ian Warwick, Deepbridge Capital
- Gary Davison, Tosca Debt Capital
- Jonathan Boyers, KPMG
- Daniel Gallagher, PwC
