Deals news: Altium; LDC & more
INVESTMENT bank Altium is reporting an excelllent start to 2015, advising on 26 deals worth £5.4bn.
The stand-out deal of the first half saw a team, led by Manchester-based chief executive Phil Adams, advise on the £1.9bn sale of UK retail business New Look to South African investment company Brait.
Altium also acted as adviser to CVC Capital Partners on the purchase of Douglas, Europe’s leading specialist retailer of beauty and personal care products, with revenues of c£1.8bn.
The firm’s UK offices were very active during the period, completing nine deals. Key deals in addition to New Look included the £303.7m sale of casual dining chain Prezzo to TPG Capital and the sale of a majority stake in sofa.com to CBPE Capital.
Phil Adams said: “It has been a really strong start to 2015 and we’ve advised on some of the largest and most high-profile transactions of the year so far, both domestically and overseas.
“We continue to focus on working with great entrepreneurs, high growth corporates and major private equity firms. Our average deal size has increased materially in the last few years to over £100m and over 80 per cent of our deals are now acting as lead adviser to the vendors of businesses.”
::
ADVISERS and investors bagged a share of the spoils of the £35m Seabrook Crisps buyout in Yorksire.
Ged Gould, joint head of LDC’s Manchester office, led the investment for the private equity firm , supported by investment directors Simon Braham and Dale Alderson.
Gould said: “Our financial, strategic and operational support will bolster a proven and skilled management team, which has already driven remarkable growth in the business, in writing a new exciting chapter in Seabrook’s history. We look forward to taking part in that journey and playing our part in bringing Seabrook’s crisps to more households.”
Alex Hartley at KPMG in Manchester advised LDC on the deal, while a team at Pinsent Masons provided legal advice. Deloitte also advised the exiting Brook-Chrispin family on the transaction.
::
SOUTH Manchester law firm Myerson Solicitors advised entrepreneur Rob Harris on a seed capital investment in Invew Telecom.
Based in Manchester,Invew Telecom has been established by Spencer Nute to provide a complete telecommunications service to businesses nationwide. Having built a strong client base working within the energy sector, Nute intends to utilise both the seed investment and Rob Harris’s expertise to create a multi-million pound venture within the next few years.
The team at Myerson was led by corporate commercial partner Scott Sands who was assisted by solicitor Chris Wilson.
