PR agency’s deals tally nears £5bn

MANCHESTER PR agency MC2 advised on 54 deals in 2015 worth a combined total of £4.9bn.

The agency works with a number of key players in the private equity and corporate finance industry including Deloitte, Altium, Equistone Partners Europe, Palatine Private Equity, NorthEdge Capital and Zeus Capital.

Since the firm was established in 1999, MC2’s corporate advisory team has provided strategic advice to clients on M&A, private equity buyouts, initial public offerings (IPOs) and corporate restructurings.

A standout deal MC2 handled over the period was for Altium after the investment bank advised the Singh Family Trust on the £1.9bn sale of New Look to Brait.

Other key deals include Equistone’s £50m management buyout of financial services company Wealth at Work from Palatine Private Equity; NorthEdge’s investment of popular health and fitness club Total Fitness; and the £304m public-to-private buyout of Italian restaurant chain Prezzo by TPG.

Liam Buckley, account director at MC2, said: “2015 has been a record year for our corporate advisory team and confidence in the marketplace has seen deal volumes and values increase across the UK.

“We’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the biggest players in the industry on a national scale and we look forward to developing these relationships even further in 2016.”

Grant Berry, Managing Partner at NorthEdge Capital, said: “We’ve worked with MC2 for a number of years and they have truly helped to raise awareness of the NorthEdge brand across the UK.

“The team was instrumental in launching our first fund in 2013, which closed at £225m, and have since supported us on 13 new transactions including Total Fitness, Sumo Digital and Solidor. We look forward to working with the firm through the next stage of our development and as we approach our first deal exit.”