CORPORATE FINANCE TEAM OF THE YEAR
Sponsored by:
Winner: Spectrum Then the possibility of another Deal Awards double arose.
Shortlisted Spectrum Corporate Finance was also seeking to retain the title – having won this category title last year.
Challenging were three very strong contenders; Grant Thornton, James Cowper Kreston and Meridian Corporate Finance.
During the nomination period, Grant Thornton's Southampton CF team completed six deals with a total value of more than £100 million. Led by Paul Stout and Nigel Le Bas, Grant Thornton's standout deals, in terms of local involvement with other Solent advisers, were Croydex and The Care Division.
The James Cowper Kreston corporate finance team completed 28 deals in the relevant period. Standout deals for the Solent office were the disposal of Lambert Brothers Haulage; advising Specialist Tours on two acquisitions and a subsequent secondary MBO; and advising Chameleon Worldwide on the Altitude Partners' exit.
Meridian had a record year completing 12 lead advisory transactions and four PE investments – totaling far in excess of £100m. Now in its 15th year Meridian has demonstrated that it is the most prominent CF lead advisory firm based in the Solent region, producing first-class results for clients in a range of industry sectors.
Spectrum, which strengthened its local presence by opening a Southampton office in 2015, has had a record year advising on 22 deals worth over £450m in aggregate value. Many of these were local deals, including the acquisition of Mortgages Made Easy; the MBO of Westfield Medical; the sale of Clearwater; the sale of Deverill, and the recapitalisation of the BIMM Institute.
businessmag.co.uk
Corporate Finance
Attention was keen as Jon Stradling regional director of large corporates at HSBC announced the winning team – Spectrum Corporate Finance.
Spectrum's Darren Miller later spoke about reclaiming the award title: “We are really delighted to win tonight. The Solent market is really important to us. A lot of us live down here and we have established a great track record of doing deals over the past few years and now have a very strong referral network.
“I was delighted to join Spectrum 18 months ago with the view of building on our profile in the south by opening an office here in Southampton, and capitalising on the good deal-flow we see coming from this market, potentially underserved post-recession by corporate finance advisers,” explained Miller.
“Being on the ground has added confidence within the local business community and for our clients here that we are absolutely committed to this region as an extremely important market for us to be operating in.”
With another office in Reading, Spectrum's scope spans the economically thriving Thames Valley and South Coast regions – and since the firm operates an active partner-led approach, it means busy diaries and management on the move.
“What makes life fun for us is that we are structured so that we can really get stuck into the deals that we are working on. All the partners love being right at the front of deals and I think that has contributed to why clients enjoy working with us, and why people are happy to refer us to work with their contacts.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH COAST – JULY/AUGUST 2016
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52