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38 deals update Latest deals data from across the region Disposal of Foresight Partnership


Completion Date: 11/14 Target: Foresight Partnership Acquirer: GE Healthcare Deal Value: Undisclosed


Details: HMT LLP, led by partner Andrew Thomson, director Holly Bedford and senior manager Matthew Gordon-Smith, advised the shareholders of Foresight Partnership, one of the leading niche governance and organisational development consultancies in healthcare in the UK, on their disposal to GE Healthcare Finnamore


Corporate Finance Advisers: HMT Legal Advisers: Allan Janes Tax Advisers: HMT


Completion Date: 01/15 Target: BlisMedia Deal Value: Undisclosed


Details: Solent-based venture capital fund, Meridian Growth Capital LLP, further increased its shareholding in BlisMedia in a follow up to the most recent funding in October 2014. This is in response to unprecedented demand for the platform usage which has seen the company expand into Singapore and Australia in the past 12 months


Funding: Meridian Growth Capital Legal Advisers: Shoosmiths LLP


BCMS tops world M&A rankings


Investment in BlisMedia


BCMS Corporate has taken the world top spot in SME M&A league tables for the first time in its 25-year history, according to new figures from Bureau van Dijk released this week. The sell-side- only SME adviser emerged in pole position for completed transactions after a highly-successful year in the sub-£100 million deal market.


BCMS pointed to deals such as the £9.4m (US$14.3m) sale of car-seat cover manufacturer ALC Group of South Africa – whose primary customer is BMW – to Exco Technologies of Canada, alongside the £5m ($7.5m) sale of US streetlight contractor Esco Energy Services to New York-based LED lighting specialist Forcefield Energy Inc.


Acquisition of High Technology Sources Project Turin


Completion Date: 18/11/14 Target: Typhoon International


Acquirer: Safety and Survival Systems (backed by August Equity LLP)


Deal Value: Undisclosed


Details: Project Turin is Meridian’s second deal with August Equity in six months. Typhoon is the world's largest manufacturer of dry-suits. Headquartered in Southampton, 3Si (a group including Ocean Safety and Revere Survival Inc.) specialise in the worldwide supply, distribution, service and hire of marine safety equipment


Funding: August Equity


Corporate Finance Advisers: Joe Jeffers and Michael Barcia (Meridian Corporate Finance)


Legal Advisers: Sean Wright and Stephen Porter (Shoosmiths LLP)


Financial Due Diligence: Darren Phillips and Daniel Bond (BDO LLP) Corporate Due Diligence: Martin Bean and John Gibbons (CIL)


Refinancing of ICA Group


Completion Date: 12/14 Target: ICA Group Deal Value: Undisclosed


Project Winchester


Completion Date: 11/11/14 Target: Wessex Fertility


Acquirer: Academic Reproductive Partnership Group (ARP)


Deal Value: Undisclosed


Details: Meridian advised the shareholders of Wessex Fertility on the sale of their business to ARP, a private equity backed fertility services group. The transaction sees Wessex provided with support to continue their growth in the region whilst providing the ARP group with a presence in the Solent area


Funding: Repin BV


Corporate Finance Advisers: Darren Thompson and Philip Mettam (Meridian Corporate Finance)


Legal Advisers: Stephen Porter (Shoosmiths LLP) – vendor, Anna Brown (Pinsent Masons LLP) – acquirer Financial Due Diligence: KPMG LLP Tax Advisers: Cathy Revis and Dean Weale (Fiander Tovell LLP)


www.businessmag.co.uk


Details: HMT LLP, led by partner Andrew Thomson, director Holly Bedford and senior manager Matthew Gordon-Smith, advised ICA Group, a leading document management and solution provider, on its refinancing and shareholder restructuring


Funding: RBS/Natwest Corporate Finance Advisers: HMT Legal Advisers: PDT Solicitors Tax Advisers: HMT


Target: High Technology Sources Acquirer: James Fisher Nuclear Holdings Deal Value: £2.25 million


Details: James Fisher Nuclear is an established supplier of specialist engineering, manufacturing and technical services for applications within challenging environments or with high integrity requirements and it acquired HTSL which is a supplier of radioactive sources and equipment for industrial, NDT and medical applications


Legal Advisers: Coffin Mew LLP acted for James Fisher Nuclear (Amanda Brockwell and Jennifer Packer), Penningtons Manches(David Tighe) in Oxford acted for the sellers of HTSL


Corporate Finance Advisers: SG Hambros EC Rabben and Partners –Peter Donald


Financial Due Diligence: Menzies


In the UK, high-profile completions included UK online auction website Preloved.co.uk, which was acquired by The Hut Group. These transactions highlight the quality of SME businesses brought to market by BCMS.


Founding director David Rebbettes said: “These rankings confirm what we have known at BCMS for some time – that our experienced deal teams across the world lead the way in delivering successful results for our clients, many of whom, like me, are owner-managers and entrepreneurs at heart.


“When you consider that around a third of our completions have been cross-border deals – with the added complexity that brings to transactions – it’s even more remarkable that a family-owned firm from Hampshire has been able to top the M&A rankings against some of the biggest names in the financial services sector.“


In addition to its leading global position, BCMS also ranks as number one sell-side adviser by volume in key territories including UK, Europe and Africa under the same search criteria.


Rebbettes added: “Whether the client is from London, Lithuania or California, we’re now seeing far more multinationals acquiring at our end of the deal market, so having a professional sell-side adviser is critical for business owners looking to sell their company for maximum value.“


The top 10 global sell-side advisers as reported by Zephyr* are as follows:


2014 Rank Adviser name 1


Next Deadline


The next Deals Update will be in our March issue


Deadline for submissions is Wednesday February 11 To submit deal information or to advertise on this page contact: David Murray • 0118-9766410 • david@elcot.co.uk


Elcot Publications is not responsible for the accuracy of information in the Deals Update section which is supplied by individual firms


2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9


10 BCMS Corporate


Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin KPMG Corporate Finance PwC – Corporate Finance JP Morgan


Credit Suisse EY


Goldman Sachs Group Inc Bank of America Corporation Morgan Stanley


* The above ranking is based on global completed deals by volume from January 1 to December 31, 2014, and includes trade acquisitions, MBOs and MBIs. The ranking refers exclusively to sell-side advisers of privately-owned companies.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – FEBRUARY 2015


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