The shortlist for this year’s Yorkshire Rainmakers awards, celebrating the corporate finance individuals and teams responsible for the top deals of the year, can now be revealed.

Finance professionals from nearly 40 firms gathered yesterday to select the shortlist from the individuals and teams responsible for arranging more than 400 deals, mergers and acquisition over the 12 months to the end of March.

Yorkshire editor Andrew Staples said, “There was a very high quality of deals this year, and I know our judges faced some difficult decisions selecting the shortlist. The sheer number of deals over the year is testimony to the amount of business activity in the region, from start-ups gaining scale-up funding to extremely high-value international acquisitioins.”

Yorkshire Rainmakers 2023 is sponsored by Gilbanks, Hall Brown, Jacob Brian Tailors, Vertu Motors, and Experian. Voting to choose the finalists is now open on a one firm, one vote basis.

The awards will be presented at a casual dress summer party at the Queens Hotel, Leeds, on June 8 – you can find out more on the Rainmakers website and book your tickets here.

2023 Shortlist

Teams

Legal

Addleshaw Goddard
Clarion
Freeths
Gordons
Squire Patton Boggs
Ward Hadaway

Corporate Finance

Clearwater International
Dow Schofield Watts
Grant Thornton
KPMG
Park Place Corporate Finance
Sentio Partners

VC/Private Equity

Yorkshire Rainmakers 2022 winners

BGF
Enact
Endless
Key Capital Partners
LDC
YFM Equity Partners

Funder

HSBC
NatWest
OakNorth Bank
Santander
Shawbrook Bank
ThinCats

Transaction Services

BDO UK
Dow Schofield Watts
Grant Thornton
KPMG
PwC UK
RSM UK

Individual

Rising Star (under 35)

Tom Hopwood – Addleshaw Goddard
Rob Johnson – BGF
Hannah Kirkup – Key Capital Partners
John O’Gara – Sentio Partners
Connie Smith – Mercia Asset Management
Ben Taylor – KPMG

Changemaker

Megan Atack – Freeths
Alexandra Fogal – EY
Carly Gulliver – Addleshaw Goddard
Nicola McQuaid – NorthEdge
Linda Nguyenova – BGF
Jeremy Thomas – Deloitte

Rainmaker

Will Arnold – Sentio Partners
Richard Hunt – Addleshaw Goddard
Barry Jackson – BGF
Paul Mann – Squire Patton Boggs
Duncan Morpeth – Grant Thornton
Jonathan Simms – Clarion

Deals

Small Cap (under £15m)

XR Games raised £5.9m in a funding round
Act Media Ventures, Praetura Ventures, Maven Capital Partners, Gateley, Lewis Silkin LLP, Park Place Corporate Finance

Definition Agency secured £7m in growth capital from ThinCats.
ThinCats, Sentio Partners, Freeths, Clarion, Ryecroft Glenton (DD)

YorkTest Laboratories secured a £10m investment from NVM Private Equity
Squire Patton Boggs, Walker Morris, Ward Hadaway, Mazars, PwC, NVM Private Equity Ltd

Manufacturer Bartoline received further funding from Enact
Addleshaw Goddard, Enact

Operam Education Group received follow-on investment by BGF
MFG Solicitors, Ward Hadaway, Dow Schofield Watts, BGF

Tribepad received a £12m investment from BGF
BGF, Squire Patton Boggs, Tax Advisory Partnership

Private Equity Exit

LDC exited Driver Hire owner Specialist People Services Group after a secondary buy-out led by Pricoa Private Capital
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Squire Patton Boggs, Clearwater International, KPMG, Sentio

Marshalls acquired roofing manufacturer Marley from exiting investor Inflexion Private Equity Partners in a £535m deal
Pinsent Masons, Grant Thornton, Lazard, Numis Securities, Slaughter and May, Peel Hunt LLP, Rothschild & co, PwC

American REIT Sun Communities bought Park Leisure 2000 from a consortium led by investment firm Midlothian Capital Partners in a deal valued at £182m
Jones Day, Slaughter and May, Rothschild & Co

SLS Group bought laboratory products specialist Gem Scientific from Solingen Private Equity
Ward Hadaway, Dow Schofield Watts, RSM

French manufacturer Verallia acquired Allied Glass Containers from exiting investor Sun European Partners for £315m
DLA Piper, Addleshaw Goddard, White & Case, EY, Robert W Baird & Co

Equistone took a majority stake in Nexus Vehicle Rental from Phoenix Equity Partners
Addleshaw Goddard, Squire Patten Boggs, Rothschild & Co, PwC, Park Place

M&A

AG Barr acquired Boost Drinks from its founders Simon and Alison Gray for up to £32m
Pinsent Masons, Piper Group

Digital services partner Hippo Digital acquired data consultancy The Data Shed
Grant Thornton, Squire Patton Boggs, Armstrong, KPMG, DWF, Vista Insurance, NatWest, Addleshaw Goddard

Progeny Group acquired The Fry Group, with four UK offices and four international offices
Squire Patton Boggs, Foot Anstey, PwC

LDC backed an MBO led by chairman Tim Williams and CEO Martyn Stevens of Cellhire Group
Walker Morris, Grant Thornton, KPMG, Virgin Money, LDC, Squire Patton Boggs

Redcentric bought the business and assets of data centres and network services from Sungard Availability Services, in a deal worth up to £18m
Clarion Solicitors, FinnCap

JCT600 acquired VW retailer Caygill Holdings
Gordons LLP, LCF Law, Translink Corporate Finance UK, Grant Thornton

International

Irish utilities group Beauparc Utilities acquired Acumen Waste Services
Burges Salmon LLP, Clarion Solicitors, BDP LLP, Park Place Corporate Finance

Ligentia Group bought Polish logistics business VGL Solid Group
Addleshaw Goddard, Skadden Arps Slate, DC Advisory, Santander UK, Equistone, Ingka Investments, Varma Mutual Pension, Squire Patton Boggs

French manufacturer Verallia acquired Allied Glass Containers for £315m from Sun European Partners
DLA Piper, Addleshaw Goddard, White & Case, EY, Sun European Partners LLP

Spanish group Urbaser bought Biowise
Michelmores LLP, Ward Hadaway, Alvarez & Marsal, KPMG, Willis Towers Watson

German chemicals distributor Brenntag acquired Prime Surfactants
Addleshaw Goddard, EY, Sentio Partners

New York-based investment firm Cambridge Information Group acquired Emerald Group
DWF, KPMG

A previous Rainmaker Awards dinner in Leeds

Public Markets

Marshalls acquired Marley in a £535m deal, part-funded by a £187m placing and open offer
Pinsent Masons, Slaughter & May, Grant Thornton, Numis Securities, Rothschild & co

Powerhouse Energy formed a joint venture with Hydrogen Utopia International to develop an operational waste plastic-to-hydrogen facility
WH Ireland

Benchmark Holdings raised NOK158m (£13m) in a secondary listing on Euronext Growth Oslo
Stifel/KBW

EG Group/Asda bought the fuel retail operations of Co-operative Group in a deal valued at £605m
Addleshaw Goddard, Rothschild & Co, PwC

Xeros Technology Group raised £6m in a share placing
FinnCap, Squire Patton Boggs

Avacta acquired Launch Diagnostics in a deal worth up to £37m, part-funded by a £7m placing
Walker Morris, Stifel/KBW

Private Company

Arc Inspirations received a £19m investment, from BGF to support the accelerated rollout of its Banyan Bar & Kitchen, BOX and Manahatta brands
Gordons LLP, Squire Patton Boggs, KPMG, Business Growth Fund

My Pension Expert secured an eight-figure investment from Palatine Private Equity to support its growth plans
Addleshaw Goddard, Gateley LLP, Park Place Corporate Finance, Capital, Kroll Ltd, Beechbrook, Palatine Private Equity

The Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) secured investment from LDC as part of a carve-out from RICS
LDC, Shoosmiths, Addleshaw Goddard, KPMG, PwC

Morrisons agreed a pre-pack deal with administrators PwC to acquire McColl’s Retail Group
Ashurst, PwC

Twinkl secured an undisclosed minority investment from Vitruvian Partners to help further grow its international presence
Vitruvian Partners LLP, PwC, Squire Patton Boggs

The Harrogate Cashmere Company secured an undisclosed equity investment from Anticus Partners
Mincoffs Solicitors, Ward Hadaway, Anticus Partners LLP

Gravity Fitness secured £30m funding to support its expansion plans, including the opening of new trampoline parks
Guinness Asset Management, Sculptor Capital Management