34 corporate finance Steady flow of deals
Over the past 12 months, the corporate team at Pitmans LLP has continued to act on some excellent transactions, reflected in the selection of deals set out opposite, writes Adam Dowdney, partner, Pitmans LLP
The addition of corporate partner Daniel Jacob in London has further strengthened the corporate capability for the team as a whole, whilst the Thames Valley team with its breadth of knowledge and transactional experience continues to win new client relationships and roles on transactions both for buyers and sellers.
In general, although overall levels of M&A across the market continue to be affected by the challenging economic climate and the renewed debt squeeze, there remain a range of interesting transactions being completed. Many companies have built up considerable reserves of cash over the past few years of trading and are seeing acquisitions as the way to continue to build their profits, although clearly this can be very specific to the company or the sector. Meanwhile private equity has come back to compete strongly in the market with trade buyers for opportunities and as there are still a relatively small number of IPOs, there has been a greater emphasis on disposals as the main exit for both private equity and other business owners. There may be a sense that the continued poor return on capital on money banked following a disposal, when compared with what can be extracted by other means
from a successful business, is still discouraging some owner managers from selling. But for larger groups, non-core assets are still being sold, and for owner-managers succession issues or other factors can mean that at a certain point the reasons for sale prevail. Those continue to provide a feed of transactions into the market.
These tough market conditions can mean that more innovative and creative deal structures are being considered in transactions. There is a decrease in emphasis on perceived ‘market practice’ and a move towards more tailored and bespoke deals. We all know also that it is increasingly challenging to see deals through to completion, and that the timelines for completing a deal can often be lengthened. All participants in the market need to factor in that a healthy looking pipeline may not result in a similar number of successful completions.
Generally the economic environment means that the outlook is expected to remain unpredictable for the foreseeable future. However, this should be balanced against the amount of capital which remains out there, from corporates and institutional investors, along with the
Amey saves £150,000 the FAST way
Maidenhead-based FAST, a leading UK authority in software asset management and IT compliance, has helped services company Amey to cut its hardware and software bill by £150,000 by managing, monitoring and auditing its IT estate.
Amey, one of the UK’s leading public services providers, has been a customer of FAST since 1997. In response to an external audit request which required the company to provide a compliance report, Amey used a FAST consultant to help it pull through its three main compliance positions.
With the help of FAST and the FAST Standard for Software Compliance (FSSC-1:2007), Amey was able to form an accurate picture of all its software and licences and therefore manage its IT assets much more effectively. By proactively
Chartered Accountants
identifying and recycling unused hardware and software across its estate, Amey has cut its software licensing and hardware bill by over £150,000.
Sue Madden, senior IT network compliance analyst at Amey, comments: “The relationship with FAST has been excellent and I have received some really good advice from the team. One of the major things I have learned from working with FAST is that you really do need an expert on hand to help. For every product you need to really get under the skin of the licence agreement which requires specialist licensing knowledge.”
As a result of much hard work and some necessary use of FAST’s extensive resources, Amey is now in a strong position to maintain its compliance position. The company has
Business Advisers Registered Auditors
adopted a new routine since working with FAST and now tracks what is coming in to the company and why on a weekly basis, to see if there are any patterns or abuse. In addition, FAST undertakes a formal audit on Amey’s behalf every year in order to ensure the company is constantly keeping track of its changing portfolio of software and making any necessary savings.
Paul Clements, director of operations at FAST, comments: “If you have a good handle on what licences you have you can utilise them better. By supporting Amey and helping them to realise this, we have helped the company save tens of thousands of pounds. Amey now has effective, enforceable policies and procedures, adequate compliance resources and a provable licensing position, thanks to the support and advice received from our team at FAST.”
Details:
www.fast-compliance.co.uk 0118 989 9780
www.rice-associates.co.uk
Richard Somerville | Andrew Beet Sarah Wildey | David Rice
www.businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – DECEMBER 11/JANUARY 12
opportunities for consolidation in a number of markets and sectors which should continue to sustain the transactional activity. That is certainly our current experience.
Details: Adam Dowdney 0118-9570574
adowdney@pitmans.com
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