33 DEALMAKER


OF THE YEAR (OVER £25m) AWARD


SPONSORED BY BARCLAYS CORPORATE WINNER PwC’S DAVID ROLFE


Above: David Rolfe (left) with Andy Simpson Left: Rolfe (centre) with Simpson (right) and Mark Durden-Smith


By the time it came to voting for the title of Dealmaker of the Year (over £25m), sponsored by Barclays Corporate, the audience was buzzing with anticipation.


Shortlisted for the award were David Rolfe, director corporate finance at PwC, Ian Barton, head of corporate finance advisory at Deloitte’s Thames Valley office, and Tony Dickin, partner at Palatine Private Equity (previously Zeus).


Promoted to his director role in 2009, Rolfe has been involved in a number of key deals in the region. These include the provision of advisory support to Leasedrive in its joint bid with Investec for Masterlease UK last December; the acquisition of Abingdon-based Leadbitter by Bouygues Batiment International and Leadbitter Management Group for £38 million; and last year’s sale of a minority stake in Oxfordshire-based Ice Energy Technologies to SIG Plc.


One person who nominated him said: “David is highly active in the over £25m deal space and well regarded as an originator and deal doer by his peers.“


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – MAY 2011


For both Barton and Dickin, the sale of XLN Telecom (see Deal of the Year) was a key factor in several of their nominations.


Nominees said Barton had led the XLN Telecom deal from start to finish and “achieved an excellent result for all shareholders“, while other transactions he and his team have been involved in included as advisers to the directors of Softalk on the disposal of the business and assets to Gordano; advisers to the shareholders of Credit Solutions on its disposal to arvato financial services and advisers to Gresham on the acquisition of IND.


For Dickin, the XLN Telecom deal was especially rewarding because he personally led the original MBO of XLN in 2008 and then supported the business with a further £2m when it acquired OneBill Telecom in 2009. The latest deal saw Palatine exit its investment in the telecoms company, realising a 4.5 times cash return for Palatine funds which, according to one nomination, generated an “exceptional return despite the economic conditions“.


On the night however, there can only be one winner and as Mark Durden-Smith


www.businessmag.co.uk


announced David Rolfe’s name, it was Andy Simpson, Head of Thames Valley & Oxford at Barclays Corporate, who was called on to present him with the trophy.


Speaking from the stage, Rolfe paid tribute to everyone in the PwC team, thanking them for all their hard work and he also congratulated the wider corporate finance community in the region for its efforts during “tough times“ in making sure that there are still plenty of deals to be done in the Thames Valley and Solent regions.


He added later: “To be voted for by my peers makes this all the more rewarding and shows that we’ve continued to make an impact in the local marketplace. In spite of a difficult deals environment this just goes to show that continuing to build strong relationships with the intermediary community and the local businesses is hugely important.“


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