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OF THE YEAR (OVER £25m) AWARD


DEAL


SPONSORED BY THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE WINNER Romans


Above: Tom Shelford of Bowmark Capital


Right: The award was presented by David Murray (far right) of sponsors The Business Magazine


Finally, five major deals in the Thames Valley, and the people who had caused them to come about, came under the spotlight and the assessing judgment of their assembled peer group.


Once again it was fingers on keypads for the last audience vote of the evening and 15 seconds of digital decision-making that would perhaps make or break someone’s night.


The five nominees for the over £25m deal value category were:


Dialog – Dialog acquired iWatt for a cash payment of some $310 million with additional contingent consideration of up to $35m.


Key involvements in the deal came from: HSBC, EY, KPMG, RPC, Davis Polk.


IntelliFlo – This was a buyout backed by HgCapital, a complex deal with the PE firm becoming a majority shareholder.


Key involvements in the deal came from: HgCapital, James Cowper, Shoosmiths.


Leasedrive – HgCapital has invested by buying 80% of the Leasedrive Group, with LDC and the management team rolling 20% of their investment/equity into the new financial structure.


Key involvements in the deal came from: HgCapital, LDC, Osborne Clarke, EY.


Romans – This MBO of the Berkshire-based property services group was a high-profile


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£50m-plus deal backed by Bowmark Capital, delivered to a very tight timetable.


Key involvements in the deal came from: Bowmark Capital, Spectrum, Stevens & Bolton, HSBC, RBS, PwC, Deloitte, and DC Advisory.


Swift Worldwide – Wellspring Capital acquired Swift from Gresham with Swift’s management team investing alongside Wellspring. The deal allowed Gresham to get “a cracking exit”, selling the business for over £130m.


Key involvements in the deal came from: HMT, Burges Salmon, Gresham, Deloitte, MacFarlanes, KPMG, DLA Piper, William Blair & Co.


David Murray, MD of The Business Magazine as sponsor of this category, once again had the pleasant task of congratulating the winner and presenting the Deals Awards trophy. Gaining the most votes and becoming the final winners of the 2014 Deals Awards were the professionals involved in the Romans deal.


Peter Coles, Group MD of Romans, later detailed the importance of the deal for the previously privately-owned business, established over 25 years ago with just 10 staff but now employing over 450 and producing a £30m-plus turnover. “Having had no previous external involvements either from investors or advisers this was a very new experience for us, so our choice of advisers was crucial.


“We chose very wisely in DC Advisory, who guided us through the complex process and


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MAY 2014


helped us select Bowmark as our partners to take the business forward.”


The deal enabled the previous majority shareholder to exit the business, and the existing management team to take a much bigger equity stake within it.


“The senior team within the organisation now all have a significant vested interest and ownership of the Romans Group, which creates a very different dynamic.


“In addition, Bowmark has made available significant capital and funding for us to continue and accelerate our growth by acquisition and expansion, with new branches and offices in fresh territories for our Town Planning through to our Estate Agency business.”


Romans has already grown rapidly since the 2008 recession, and now with the improved economic position and backing of Bowmark, Coles is “very optimistic and enthusiastic about what the next few years will bring”.


“It’s flattering to receive this award because, although we knew it was a great deal, to receive third-party recognition from the professional sector formally confirms that for all concerned.”


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