CORPORATE FINANCE ADVISER OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by:
Winner: Simon Davies Spectrum
Corporate finance advisers from HMT had won this title for the past two years and both previous winners – Ian Barton and Andrew Thomson – were again shortlisted. Contesting the award title were familiar names in the local dealmaking community: Simon Davies and Clive Hatchard, the joint MDs of Spectrum, and Duncan Lamb of Grant Thornton.
Ian Barton led high-profile deals for HMT in the past year, including advising Dutch group PostNL on the MBO of Whistl; the MBO of BOFA; the disposal of Friarwood; and advising Palatine on John Charcol’s acquisition of Simply Finance Group.
In a big year for the firm, founding partner Andrew Thomson advised Channel Mum on fundraising; Leaders on the acquisition of Aston Mead; Connection Capital on investment in The Light Cinemas; and Pitmans’ acquisition of Calvert Solicitors, among many others in a packed portfolio.
With Spectrum extending its footprint in the south, and completing 20 deals, Simon Davies advised on the disposal of Clearwater Group; led deal negotiations on The Light’s growth investment and acquisitions; and advised on MacuVision Europe’s disposal to Alliance Pharma; plus the sale of SCI-MX Nutrition to Samworth Brothers.
Clive Hatchard successfully structured and led eight deals in the qualifying period, with an aggregate value of over £140 million. Deals included the disposal of Blue Max to MML Capital; the sale of Finders Keepers to Countrywide plc, Clarendon’s acquisition of Reflex and the sale to Romans Group of Campsie.
Duncan Lamb is a ‘go-to’ adviser in the Thames Valley market according to nominations, with his deal structuring enabling “innovative solutions to be found to fill funding gaps“. The sale of Rolling Luggage to Samsonite was an example of a complex deal successfully completed.
www.businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MAY 2016
Representing sponsor HSBC, Jon Stradling, regional managing director, south, announced the winner – Simon Davies of Spectrum.
Davies, later commented: “It’s not just me of course. The Spectrum team has done really well; we’ve had a fantastic year. I have been lucky to be associated with some great deals and some great management teams and clients this year. We’ve had a good run of headline deals that we have achieved successfully. We do work hard on the deals in order to achieve those results, of course.”
Though delighted to win, Davies admitted he would not have been surprised if his colleague Clive Hatchard had taken the title, following his highly impressive 2015 performance.
What are the chances of Spectrum topping its 2015 activity in 2016?
“As ever, when you are just focused on lead advisory work you have peaks and troughs of deal cycles. We currently have our biggest ever pipeline of potential deals, but whether we get all those deals through in time ... but, we do have a fantastic opportunity for a record year with some £40-£60m deals that we could achieve in the next few months.
“I believe we have the strongest team in the market, with five directors – all leading on transactions – plus a great support team that will help us get that pipeline done.”
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