Begbies Traynor believes acquisition is Springboard to further growth
Begbies Traynor believes it has identified the Springboard to getting “critical mass in the mid-market corporate finance arena” by purchasing the corporate finance practice.
It will pay up to £4.5m for Springboard, which has offices in Birmingham, London and Nottingham, and wants to expand the firm into other cities.
Ric Traynor, chairman of Begbies Traynor, described the deal as “an important step” for the group.
He said: “We see strong synergies with the Springboard corporate finance offering as it is complementary to many of the group’s existing service lines. Both share a similar client base and range of intermediary relationships allowing for cross selling of new services to existing clients.”
The Springboard practice will continue to operate under its existing brand and the senior leadership, team and offices will remain unchanged.
Springboard’s team of 15 claims a strong reputation in proprietary deal origination and last year completed deals with a total value of more than £225m.
It recorded pre-tax profits of £750,000 in its most recent financial year, to June 2017, on revenues of £2.3m.
Springboard partner Simon Ward said: “This investment by Begbies Traynor Group is great news for the team at Springboard, our clients and our friends in the intermediary community.
“The acquisition provides us with the resources to build our practice with greater pace and recruit high quality individuals who can enhance our offering to both existing and prospective clients.”
Begbies will pay half of the initial £2.75m in cash and half through issuing 1.88m shares. A further £1.25m will be paid in cash to match Springboard’s cash balances on completion, while an additional £500,000 can be paid, subject to financial targets being achieved over the next five years.
Commercial legal practice Brabners advised Begbies Traynor Group on the deal while Mat Harvey, Mike McMahon and Gurdeep Boparai at Weightmans in Birmingham acted on behalf of Springboard Corporate Finance.
