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Panellists, from left: Peter Liney,


Great Rail Journeys; Roger Flynn; Richard Whitwell, LDC; and Nicki Boyd, Apiary Capital


‘Sell-off advisory fees and time are overengineered’


M&A EXPERTS DISCUSS COSTS, BREXIT AND GOOD INVESTMENTS AT A TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS BREAKFAST. BY LEE HAYHURST


The “mushrooming” costs of legal advisers needed to sell a business is making the process more expensive but can pay off by maximising values and reducing the risk of a deal collapsing.


Experts in travel mergers and acquisitions told the latest Travel Weekly Business Breakfast it was normal to have teams of corporate, management and technology advisers involved in deals.


72 travelweekly.co.uk 8 November 2018 One investor involved in private


equity firm LDC’s purchase of Neilson in August defended the trend. Challenged about a list of 15 advisers disclosed in the deal, Richard Whitwell, LDC’s head of East Midlands, said: “That seems to be the way, certainly with a deal like that. If you want to be involved in a professional and well-run auction, it puts more reliance on your advisory group.


“It’s part and parcel of selling a company today and you just have to factor it in. We try to manage it, but there is a very important role for all of those advisers at different stages.” Peter Liney, chief executive of


Great Rail Journeys, who in June led a management exit backed by investor Duke Street from previous owner ECI Private Equity, said: “There is no way as a CEO you would spend money on this sort of stuff normally and you do have to suspend judgment somewhat. “It is too expensive. There is


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PICTURES: SARAH LUCY BROWN


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