deals 10 deals of HMT – the MBO of Whistl
To celebrate its 25th anniversary of leading corporate finance deals, HMT is reminiscing on 10 notable transactions from its archives. Having completed over 500 deals, producing a shortlist of 10 has not been easy but the MBO of Whistl led by CEO Nick Wells has certainly made the list
The connection between HMT and Whistl dates back to the early 1990s when Andrew Thomson advised Wells on his first transaction: the MBO of CD, a direct marketing business. Wells successfully ran CD for 11 years and in 2001 sold it to Dutch postal operator TNT (now PostNL).
In 2004, PostNL saw an opportunity in the new postal regulations and asked Wells to lead the charge with Royal Mail and build TNT Post. Wells and his team grew the business organically to reach £600 million turnover. In 2014, TNT Post in the UK rebranded to become Whistl.
In 2015, PostNL was looking to tailor its international strategy. Wells decided to
once again lead a management buyout. Having worked with HMT previously, Wells recommended Ian Barton as corporate finance adviser on this transaction. Barton and his team were involved throughout the process, worked on the structure of the MBO and facilitated the deal from the beginning to the end. In November 2015, Wells, Nigel Graham Polglass (COO), Manoj Parmar (CFO) and the rest of the management team acquired 82.5% of Whistl with bank facilities from RBS Reading and PostNL retained 17.5%. The MBO of Whistl was one of the most significant transactions in the south of England that year and won Deal of the Year at the 2016 Thames Valley Deals Awards.
Since the MBO, Whistl has continued to grow and HMT has recently supported it on the acquisition of e-commerce operator Prism DM providing lead advisory, tax advisory and due-diligence services on this transaction.
In 2016, Whistl handled 3.7 billion items of mail and is the market leader in downstream access mail services. The business is looking to continue to consolidate its position in its core market of business mail and door drop media while growing in parcels both
Wilson Partners advises KCP on investment in London IT firm
Wilson Partners Corporate Finance, based in Maidenhead, has advised Key Capital Partners (KCP) on its investment in Sparta Global.
KCP has continued its recent string of new investments backing an innovative provider of specialist IT Services with a £4 million equity investment, to support continued growth and expansion.
London-based Sparta Global, which has a £16m turnover, operates the Sparta Training Academy, a growing IT trainer and provider of IT services. The firm’s clients include private-sector firms and government clients. The Sparta Academy model upskills new IT graduates with intensive in-house training, which enables Sparta Global to provide blue-chip clients with homegrown, high-calibre IT consultants, who have mastered the technical and analytical skills required to be productive software engineers. There are currently 120 IT consultants deployed on various client assignments.
The investment into Sparta Global is highly pertinent in the wake of Brexit, as the demand for homegrown talent increases.
The deal sees KCP acquire a significant minority stake in the business, which currently employs 160 staff, backing the management team and co-founders, David Rai, (CEO) and Tim Staton (CTO). The investment will fund further expansion, including the opening of new training centres in Leeds and Birmingham that will create a further 100 jobs in 2018, making Sparta Global one of the largest graduate employers within the UK.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – OCTOBER 2017 • • • • • •
Siobhan Freegard
Nick Wells
“HMT is responsive, capable and commercial”
domestically and internationally. Wells and his team are also looking at additional potential acquisitions where HMT will be able to help.
hmtllp.com
Thomas Anthony Commercial Accountancy Services Ltd
Support for SMEs
Providing an independent and flexible Finance Business Partner solution to SMEs across the Thames Valley.
Supporting business owners to achieve strategic goals
Business finance planning to support growth and funding applications
Financial health checks to identify and implement cost efficiencies
Building long-range financial plans with supporting commercial and financial commentary
Implementing processes to deliver management information
Attendance at Board Meetings to present management information
• Cashflow reviews and management •
Get in touch:
Guidance and support for in-house finance staff 07977 146670
tracey@thomasanthonycas.co.uk www.thomasanthonycas.co.uk
businessmag.co.uk
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