DEAL (OVER £25M) OF THE YEAR


Sponsored by: Winner: Clifford Thames


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


Amec Foster Wheeler


Deal type: Acquisition. The biggest Thames Valley deal of 2014. Amec plc purchased Reading-based Foster Wheeler for £2 billion in cash and shares, with HSBC providing debt finance, and several City advisers involved.


Deal value: £2b. And so to the 12th and final award of the night.


Five major deals in the Thames Valley, and the people who had caused them to come about, became the focus of attention and, for voting purposes, came under the professional assessment of the 350 assembled awards night diners.


Jonathan Brown, MD of award category sponsors UBS Wealth Management, had stayed on the stage to present this final 2015 Deals Awards trophy.


Again there was a tense 10 seconds as the voting took place. To a stirring fanfare the result was displayed on the event screen and the winner was known – the Clifford Thames deal.


Calvin Barnett of Clifford Thames later detailed the protracted journey of the MBO, which first became a possibility in 2004. Then, as the UK recession arrived the automotive trade suffered like other sectors. “We actually managed to trade level through that period.”


When Barnett was appointed Group CEO in 2012 “. . .the shareholders decided it was time to bring together the right team to make it happen.


“That started 18 months before doing the deal last August. It meant getting some good partners and advisers around us – people who know our business, what we are looking for, and how to position things correctly – and they all did a great job in getting the deal through. Overall, quite an achievement!” And, one he didn’t expect to end with a Deals Award.


The £50m deal, with LDC’s private equity investment transacted by its team in Reading led by MD Yann Souillard, will enable a better structured Clifford Thames to progress its global expansion and acquisition ambitions, notably in Germany, Asia-Pacific and the USA, added Barnett.


Then with the 2015 Thames Valley Deals Awards over, it was time to celebrate or commiserate . . . and ponder upcoming deal opportunities for the rest of this year’s 2016 awards assessment period.


www.businessmag.co.uk


Key involvements in the deal came from: HSBC, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Freshfields, Linklaters, BAML, Allen & Overy, PwC.


Clifford Thames


Deal type: Management buyout. LDC supported the MBO of Clifford Thames, the UK market-leading automotive data firm. Deal value: £50m.


Key involvements in the deal came from: LDC, HSBC, Osborne Clarke, Baker Tilly, Olswang, KPMG, Travers Smith, Roland Berger.


Livingston Group/Microlease


Deal type: Acquisition. The Microlease purchase of the Livingston Group has led to the formation of Europe’s largest provider of technology asset management and rental services.


Deal value: £35m.


Key involvements in the deal came from: LDC, HSBC, Grant Thornton, PwC, Stevens & Bolton, Shoosmiths, Travers Smith.


Micro Focus Deal type: Acquisition. Newbury-based Micro Focus International acquired Texas-based Attachmate.


Deal value: $2.6b.


Key involvements in the deal came from: HSBC, BAML, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, RBS, Guggenheim, PwC.


Millgate/Countryside Deal type: Merger. Combining the operations of Berkshire- based housebuilder Millgate with Countryside was one of the region’s largest mergers of the year.


Deal value: Undisclosed.


Key involvements in the deal came from: Barclays funding and advisory from Quercus, Osborne Clarke, KPMG, Rothschild, and Ashurst.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MAY 2015


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