DUE DILIGENCE TEAM OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by:
Winner:
PwC
This award category was introduced last year following sector feedback highlighting the importance of Due Diligence (DD) – a previously largely unsung professional discipline within the deals process.
DD evaluates, checks and tests the deal components and often underpins the success of a potential deal. The reason?
DD enhances the amount and quality of information available, enabling the dealmakers to make better-informed decisions. DD helps the parties involved to view the deal specifics with confidence, and ultimately as fair and mutually acceptable.
PwC was the winner of that inaugural 2014 Due Diligence Team of the Year Award. Included within the shortlisted nominees again this year, the intrigue in the room was whether PwC could make it a 2015 double delight for its DD team.
They were up against stiff opposition in the talented and experienced teams of Baker Tilly, Grant Thornton, and HMT.
Clifford Thames, Bargate Homes, and Watch Shop were just three of the Baker Tilly team’s 30 DD deals. The Reading-based team worked on high-profile transactions ranging from the Watch Shop sale, acquisition of Madejski Stadium Hotel, and the MBO of Clifford Thames, to Bloomsbury Publishing’s purchase of Osprey.
PwC had also had a busy time during this year’s award assessment period. Its Reading team had worked on the Micro Focus merger with Attachmate, Amec’s acquisition of Foster Wheeler and a host of other deals, including Ricardo’s acquisition of PPA Energy, and Centrica’s purchase of BordGais Energy.
Sixteen deals, with a total value of £310 million, were completed
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by Grant Thornton’s DD team in Reading, which has now grown to six people. Key deals included Santander’s investment in Companion Care Services, the flotation of Gamma on AIM, and BGF’s investment in Skyscape.
HMT handled DD for 11 deals in the year. They included Maven Capital’s investment in ISN Solutions, Beringea’s investment in All in One Medical, and Property Software Group’s acquisition of Jupix.
The winning team was described as “a strong and highly praised Reading DD team that has worked on some of the biggest deals of the year”. On behalf of the sponsors, Emma Gibson, head of Thames Valley corporate at Shoosmiths, revealed that the winning team was once again PwC.
Jason Wakelam, PwC deals partner in Reading, was plainly doubly delighted: “To win it in the inaugural year was fantastic and to come back to win again is so unexpected. There is a lot of competition out there and to be recognised again for what you do in the local market is very rewarding. What’s really pleasing at the end of the day is that recognition of the overall team effort.”
He was also pleased at the recognition of the value of high standard DD within successful deals: “You can have confidence about the M&A strategy, and what is the right deal to do, but fundamentally it is important to know that you are buying what you think you are buying, and that is properly reflected in the price.”
In the past year, to improve its service to the vibrant Thames Valley deals environment, PwC has grown its Reading deals business team to 30, with DD remaining the core work element, Wakelam mentioned.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MAY 2015
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