CORPORATE FINANCE ADVISER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by:
Winner: Andrew Thomson HMT
Once again, the performance of individuals came under the spotlight for the next award.
For the second year running the same two candidates from the same firm – Ian Barton and Andrew Thomson of HMT Corporate Finance – had been shortlisted. Both had also previously been ‘Corporate Finance Adviser of the Year’, with Barton the 2014 reigning title-holder.
Also contesting the award title were Ian Milne of Spectrum and Duncan Lamb of Grant Thornton and Andrew Dray of Quercus.
Ian Barton had led a series of high-profile deals for HMT in the past year, including the MBO of Surrey-based seismic consultancy firm, The EPI Group, and the MBO of Acal Enterprise Solutions, backed by NVM.
Adrian Dray has been known to the corporate finance (CF) community over many years as a key figure at KPMG. Now running his own show at Quercus, a new CF ‘boutique’, Dray was heavily involved in the Millgate/Countryside deal, the sale of Acal to its management team and the sale of Camp Hopson to Morley Stores Group.
Known to be pro-active and hands-on, Duncan Lamb worked on a bulging portfolio of transactions in the qualifying period, including the sale of Rolling Luggage to Samsonite and the buyout of Centre4Testing by Living Bridge. He ‘leads a successful team from the front’, said one nomination.
An experienced corporate financier, Ian Milne’s expertise in funding transactions includes the recapitalization and debt raise of £34 million for Alcumus; whilst he has also made the transition to M&A with the sale of Lamport Bassitt to Pitmans; and the cross-border disposal of Premium Crops.
Andrew Thomson is one of the best-known advisers in the region and led on a significant number of deals, including the MBI at Cooper
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Callas, Redeem Holdings’ acquisitions following its finance raising, shareholder restructuring at Orion Electrotech, and the refinancing of ICA Group.
Representing sponsor HSBC, Jon Stradling, regional managing director, large corporates, south region, announced the winner – Andrew Thomson of HMT. Thomson’s many award nominations for deals that he had overseen, included one from a happy CEO stating: “HMT were superb. Incredibly easy to deal with and swift to respond. A pleasure to work with and we’d instruct them again without hesitation.”
Another highlighted Thomson’s lead role and said of HMT: “Rarely do you meet such a team of well-rounded professionals who have the capacity and ability to deliver.”
The triumphant Thomson, a founding partner of HMT, has now won the ‘Corporate Finance Adviser of the Year’ title on four occasions – previously in 2008, 2012, and 2013.
His personal advice to others? “You need to respond to the environment. At present there is a lot of money around and it is more about finding the right deals. You obviously need the basic technical skills to deliver results, but it’s also about being able to read the other side, knowing what you can and can’t negotiate, and just the pig-headedness of wanting to win.”
However, Thomson was quick to praise his colleagues: “At HMT it’s all about a team effort in executing the deals. Without those guys the deals would simply not happen.”
And the current business climate? “If you are not doing well and making money now there is something wrong with your business model. Now, the dynamics are right, it’s just whether the Election will change all that.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MAY 2015
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