Begbies Traynor beefs up insolvency offering through acquisition

BEGBIES Traynor has acquired an insolvency firm in a deal worth up to £2.5m.

Regional accountancy group Begbies, which has an operation in Birmingham, has bought Cheshire-based Cooper Williamson.

Begbies, which generates most of its revenue from insolvency cases, said the deal would help it to “enhance” its position as “the UK’s leading independent insolvency practice”.

It has paid £450,000 in cash and issued shares worth the same amount to Cooper Williamson’s owners, Keith Tully, Jonathan Munnery and Dylan Quail.
There is a deferred consideration of £1.1m, either in cash or shares, based on performance over the next three years. A further £500,000 might be paid if it hits “robust targets” in years four and five.

Cooper Williamson, which operates the RealBusinessRescue website, reported revenue of £1.7m and a pre-tax profit of £400,000 in the year to May.

Begbies’ chairman Ric Traynor said: “The acquisition of Cooper Williamson is an exciting development for us, and is in line with our strategy to enhance our position as the UK’s leading independent insolvency practice.”

Cooper Williamson’s managing director Keith Tully said: “Our strong regional presence in the North West is an excellent fit with Begbies Traynor’s network of national offices, which will allow the business to capitalise on the number of engagements generated through our successful online offering.”

Yesterday Begbies said the first four months of its new financial year had seen no uptick in “subdued” market conditions.

In a statement ahead of the group’s annual meeting, Traynor said slowness in the corporate insolvency market over the summer – which is historically the quietest time of the year – was evidenced by the Government insolvency statistics showing a 13% fall in corporate insolvency appointments in the six months to June 30.