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Deals Awards is open for entries
Nominations have opened for the Thames Valley Deals Awards – with hundreds of entries expected for the 2016 competition
And for the latest contest, nominations can be made online through a new entry system, which goes live this month.
The 2016 event will be held at the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre, Madejski Stadium, Reading, on April 21.
The 2015 Deal of the Year was the £50 million MBO of Clifford Thames, the automotive data firm.
Chief executive Calvin Barnett and his management team turned to private equity to finance the buyout of the business. LDC was the chosen firm and Barnett commented at the time: “LDC's investment brings additional strategic input and financial backing to our business and will help us to deliver ambitious growth plans.
“As well as increasing the pace of organic growth and building on our position both here in the UK and within existing international markets, we are keen to peruse appropriate acquisition opportunities to increase our rate of growth in core areas alongside expansion into new ones.”
LDC said of the company: “With a growing reputation across the international automotive industry for its state-of-the-art IT platforms and data management solutions, Clifford Thames’ delivers efficiencies and profitable growth to its customers; whether directly, by increasing parts sales, or indirectly by improving brand loyalty and quality of service; and particularly in areas such as the creation, maintenance and delivery of parts data, integrated approaches to dealer products and processes and the support of genuine manufacturer parts sales to non- franchised repairers and workshops.
“The business has also made a significant investment in ATHORIS, an online service, maintenance and repair software platform used by the fleet industry and rapidly becoming the
The categories
Deal of the Year – sponsored by UBS Dealmaker of the Year – sponsored by Pitmans Corporate Finance Team Corporate Finance Adviser – sponsored by HSBC Bank of the Year – sponsored by BCMS Law Firm of the Year – sponsored by Grant Thornton
Lawyer of the Year – sponsored by Taylor Made Computer Solutions
Private Equity Firm – sponsored by HMT Management Team – sponsored by PwC Alternative Lender – sponsored by Wilson Partners Due Diligence Team
sponsors
de-facto standard in France, Clifford Thames’ first launched market.”
Originally established in 1948, Clifford Thames has more than 450 employees operating from a strategic network of offices in 10 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and North America, together with outsource centres in Krakow in Poland and Chennai in India.
Octopus Investments remained invested in Clifford Thames, having supported the company over three funding rounds since 2010. KPMG acted for the vendors; Osborne Clarke provided legal advice to LDC, while Olswang advised the vendors; Baker Tilly (now RSM) provided financial due diligence and Roland Berger provided commercial due diligence. Bank debt was provided by HSBC.
Which transaction will be the Deal of the Year in the 2016 competition?
The qualifying period for entries is January 2015 to February 28, 2016.
To book your table for the 2016 event, email Linda Morse at
linda@elcot.co.uk A table of 10 costs £1,500 and individual seats cost £160 ex VAT.
www.dealsawards.co.uk www.businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – DECEMBER 15/JANUARY 16
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