Midlands accountancy group secures major investment deal
MIDLANDS accountancy group Baldwins has secured a major investment deal to help secure its continued expansion.
The Walsall-based group has entered an agreement with CogitalGroup, which is backed by HgCapital.
The terms of the investment have not been disclosed but the deal is thought to be significant.
Baldwins, which has embarked on a spate of acquisitions this year, now operates from a network of 27 offices across the UK, together employing around 650 people.
A statement announcing the investment said the firm planned to continue its growth strategy as it looked to build its regional network. Its existing management team will continue to lead and drive this strategy.
John Baldwin, director of Baldwins, said: “We undertook significant diligence on who to work with in relation to our future investment partners and we are delighted to have the opportunity to join CogitalGroup and work with HgCapital.
“We are also pleased to welcome John Connolly onto our board who, with his undoubted background as former Global Chairman of Deloitte, will bring a level of expertise and experience necessary to achieve our goals and aspirations.”
The Baldwins investment follows the announcement by HgCapital that it had agreed the acquisition of Visma BPO, a leading provider of outsourced accounting, payroll and HR services to 20,000 businesses in the Nordic region.
In July, HgCapital also announced an investment in London-based accontants Blick Rothenberg.
It said Blick Rothenberg, Visma BPO and Baldwins now formed the newly-launched CogitalGroup, where each business continued to operate under their existing brands.
The CogitalGroup said its intention was to create a new presence in the advisory services market. When the transactions complete over the next few weeks the group will have over 3,200 people based in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the UK and with a significant nearshore centre in Romania. The pro-forma group revenue will be circa £300m.
Mr Connolly said: “This is a major landmark for CogitalGroup and is part of our strategy to build a different kind of advisory business, underpinned by exceptional levels of innovation and client-focused service. We are extremely excited about our future and strongly believe that there is a place in the market for a firm focused on entrepreneurial businesses and high net worth individuals, delivering a personal service whilst harnessing the value-enhancing role of technology.
“Baldwins is a company I have known and admired for some time and I am delighted that we now have the opportunity to work with John and his team. Along with our colleagues at Blick Rothenberg and Visma BPO, they will help take CogitalGroup to the next level.”
Thorsten Toepfer, a director of HgCapital, said: “This latest investment is in line with HgCapital’s sector-focused approach and reflects our considerable experience in this area. We are proud to be investing in CogitalGroup, and working together our goal is to build a substantial international business that provides superior service to entrepreneurial companies and business owners and managers.”
