Raft of hires to Big Four deals teams

BIG FOUR firm KPMG has expanded its deal advisory teams following a year in which it advised on more than 83 transactions worth £6.3bn.

The firm’s deal advisory practice in Manchester has appointed Claire Frangou as a corporate finance director.

She has more than 16 years’ experience advising the region’s businesses on M&A, corporate disposals and fundraising. Before her move, Frangou spent almost a decade as a director in Deloitte’s Corporate Finance Advisory team, focusing on mid-market M&A, with a strong emphasis on private equity.

Frangou said: “KPMG’s corporate finance team stands out in the region as the most active advisory team, but also for taking a central role in completing some of the North’s most high profile and game-changing transactions. It has been great to see the outstanding team that has been created here and I look forward to leveraging my own experience in the market to build on that success.”

Meanwhile, Phillip Sarthou joins KPMG’s corporate finance practice as associate in Liverpool, while Adam Dunin-Markiewitz, who originally joined KPMG’s corporate finance team as an associate in 2015 from Ares Management, has moved to the firm’s Manchester debt advisory practice.

KPMG’s Manchester Transaction Services practice has appointed Neave Patel while Siobhan Dunne joins the team as an associate.

Deals completed by KPMG during the year include BDP’s sale to Nippon Koei, Nagatanien’s acquisition of Chaucer Food and Select Property Group’s raising of £169m of senior debt and junior capital facilities to fund the development of three new student accommodation sites.

Jonathan Boyers, head of deal advisory at KPMG for the North, said: “The Northern dealmaking scene is vibrant and reflects the quality community of investors, corporates and advisors that is long established and continues to thrive on both sides of the Pennines. For us, we’ve had a really strong year and have relished the opportunity to lead the market and get some incredible deals over the line.

“With a healthy pipeline already for the new year, we are committed to investing in our team, strengthening the depth of talent we have here on the ground to make sure that management teams have access to the capital to take advantage of growth opportunities, whether they are organic or acquisitive, domestic or international.”