corporate finance 25


South coast powerhouse corporate team


Blake Morgan's 15-strong south coast corporate team is celebrating another extraordinary year of deal-making. Corporate partners James Hawkeswood, Mark Hepworth and Stephen Archibald commented on recent deal highlights


"Whenever we try to put together a retrospective of our recent activity, I am always struck by the diversity of the deals we do: diversity in terms of value, geography, and of the clients for whom we act," commented team leader James Hawkeswood.


"From a team perspective, a great highlight was the sale of the UK's prepared fruit market leader Orchard House Foods to US health focused food giant Hain Celestial. The manner of the transaction was noteworthy – we advised Wellness Foods on the sale in an accelerated process that completed in just three weeks, but of far greater significance was the fact that it was our third major transaction for Wellness in the space of two years. Being instructed on this disposal was a ringing endorsement of our client service and testament to the strong relationships we are able to build with our clients."


Blake Morgan's corporate team had previously worked closely with the Wellness Foods management team and its investor Erbium Holdings in addition to the global financial advisory team at NM Rothschild & Sons on the sale of the healthy breakfast cereals household name Dorset Cereals to FTSE 100 food and ingredients business, Associated British Foods, and the disposal of the UK's honey market leader Rowse Honey to Irish headquartered food manufacturer Valeo Foods.


Mark Hepworth, client partner for Wellness, observed, "After working with management and the Rothschild team on the Dorset Cereals and Rowse Honey deals, we had the knowledge that our respective teams had worked exceptionally well together before and therefore we had the collective confidence that we could deliver another successful result for our clients."


The team has also recently completed two AIM floats. The first IPO which completed in March was for Hampshire headquartered Harwood Wealth Management Group plc.


"We advised on the acquisition of Wellian Investment Solutions, an award-winning, £1 billion plus investment-management business, and on an over-subscribed £13.5 million institutional share placing. The deal saw Harwood Wealth become an AIM-listed company with a current market


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH COAST – JUNE 2016


capitalisation of £63m", commented Stephen Archibald, who led on the deal.


Neil Dunkley, co-founder and joint CEO of Harwood Wealth, said: "We are delighted to have successfully completed the IPO and raised funds to facilitate the next stage of the company's development. The Blake Morgan team supported us throughout every stage of the deal and the AIM listing process, drawing on their extensive experience in public markets work and a thorough understanding of the issues in our business.”


The second IPO saw Osirium Technologies plc place shares to raise £8.8m to become AIM quoted at a market capitalisation of £16.2m. The firm drew on expertise from a cross-office team of corporate, commercial and employment law specialists to successfully complete the deal in April 2016.


David Guyatt, chief executive of Osirium stated: “We are thrilled by our recent admission to AIM following our oversubscribed fundraising, which has provided the team with the working capital required to further establish Osirium’s leadership in the cyber security market. For what can seem a complex and demanding process, the Blake Morgan team provided exemplary support to us throughout the project, working tirelessly with the wider professional team and demonstrating the patience and stamina to ensure a well- coordinated end result.”


Archibald continued: "It's deals like this that have earned our team an enviable reputation for our ability in providing IPO strategy and corporate advice to a number of businesses across the UK."


Back on the south coast, the firm advised management on the £23m LDC-backed management buyout of Poole-based BOFA International and advised the shareholders of Chilworth-based wind turbine blade technology company Blade Dynamics on their sale to GE – the culmination of another longstanding advisory relationship which has included transactions with the likes of the Dow Chemical Company, American Superconductor Corporation, and The Energy Technologies Institute.


Hawkeswood concluded: "These are just a few examples of the types of deals in the Solent that are putting our region firmly on the map. With a growing corporate team and an ever increasing pipeline of work, it's very much a positive outlook for the year ahead."


With offices across Southern England and Wales, Blake Morgan has an international portfolio of multi-national client companies (public and private), SMEs, owner-managed businesses and start-ups with a need for high quality corporate and M&A support and advice. The firm commonly handles over 100 transactions in each year, with deal values typically ranging from the small, sub- £5m to the very large, £100m plus.


Details: James Hawkeswood james.hawkeswood@blakemorgan.co.uk www.blakemorgan.co.uk


Blake Morgan Corporate South Coast Team businessmag.co.uk


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