Hello Rainmakers,
We’re always curious when a public company doesn’t tell investors how much it paid for an acquisition. Just a hunch, but when they don’t, it’s probably not very much.
Plenty of good deals from right around the team this week.
But first, a reminder: this is free to all who have signed up. Rainmakers subscribers get at least two unique pieces a week, and also full access to our back catalogue of investigations, scoops, and insights, including updates from The Secret Investor, interviews with entrepreneurs, and the leaders from VC and PE investors like Endless, Foresight, Mercia, and LDC.
Affinity Workforce Solutions is going back to school - but this time it’s taking the training with it.
The education workforce specialist has acquired Training Toolz, marking its first move beyond recruitment and adding brands CandidateGo and Training Schoolz to its portfolio.
Training Schoolz has been renamed Affinity Elevate, while a new Affinity Elevate 360 platform will help Multi-Academy Trusts manage training and compliance across their schools.
CandidateGo will continue serving education recruitment agencies with online training and compliance tools.
Esme Bianchi-Barry, CEO of Affinity Workforce Solutions said: “This acquisition is a natural next step for us. We’ve spent years helping schools and MATs find the right people, and now we can help them keep those people trained, compliant and supported once they’re in post. It’s about being a genuine partner to education, not just a recruitment agency.”
With recruitment already in the bag, Affinity is clearly keen to make training another part of the lesson plan.
::
It has taken some tough, back and forth offers and counter-offers - and probably plenty of intense behind-the-scenes “full and frank” discussions - but property group Harworth today confirmed it had accepted Peel’s latest increased bid for the group. The Manchester-based Peel Group successfully completed its takeover of Rotherham-headquartered land regeneration specialist, Harworth Group, for £631.7m after the target company board dropped its previous opposition and unanimously recommended the offer.
Peel had increased its cash offer to 187p per share, making an 8.4 per cent increase from its previous 177.5p bid. The takeover battle began during the long summer heatwave, when on 6 August Peel launched an initial unsolicited, cash takeover bid at 172.5p per share - valuing Harworth at £583m. The Harworth board immediately and unequivocally rejected this, claiming it “opportunistically” undervalued the group’s long-term growth and its pivot toward industrial and logistics sites.
::
There’s no armouring around it: Coventry-based NP Aerospace is going stateside.
The global armour manufacturer and vehicle integrator has secured more than £30m in funding from NatWest, backed by UK Export Finance, to acquire US-based armour maker Iten Defense.
The deal includes a £19m trade loan, a £7.5m term loan and additional working capital – giving NP Aerospace plenty of financial firepower for its next stage of growth.
Founded in Coventry a century ago, the business is now using its home-grown expertise to make a major push into the US market, with Ohio-based Iten providing a strategic foothold across the pond.
Under chief executive James Kempston, turnover is forecast to rise from around £135m in 2026 to £160m across its UK and North American operations in 2027.
Kempston said: “Completing this acquisition is a significant milestone for NP Aerospace as we expand our global enterprise. It strengthens our position in a key international market and enhances our ability to deliver advanced protection and engineering solutions to defence and law enforcement customers around the world. We’ve built a strong business from our Coventry base, and this investment supports our ambition to continue innovating, expanding our capabilities and creating long-term opportunities from the West Midlands.”
The deal could also see NP Aerospace expand its product and manufacturing capabilities across land, maritime and aerospace markets.
So, after 100 years in the business, it seems NP Aerospace is still showing it has plenty of armour-plated ambition.
::
AO has completed the acquisition of Jessops, the specialist photography retailer, from entrepreneur Peter Jones using existing cash resources, but isn’t saying how much it paid.
That’s probably to spare the blushes of Dragon Jones, as Jessops was loss making. In its last published accounts to the end of September 2025 Jessops Group made a loss of £756k on turnover of £19.8m.
Jessops brings expertise in cameras and optical technology, while its recommerce business Camera Jungle complements AO’s existing Music Magpie operations.
In August John Roberts told TheBusinessDesk.com, in an exclusive interview, that the longer term strategy was to expanded into solar panels and home robots, but the purchase of Jessops seems to make sense on top of the £10m purchase of Music Magpie in late 2024.
However, Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at Manchester-based investment platform, AJ Bell, said investors might question the deal. “Once a popular name on the high street, the photography expert has struggled as people are now able to take much better quality pictures on their mobile phones - thereby dampening demand for standalone cameras.”
He added: “The rise of social media has improved the company’s prospects. It has driven demand for vlogging devices and compact cameras are coming back into fashion, both of which suggest a new lease of life for Jessops.
“AO is no stranger to buying companies that are seemingly on their knees. It bought tech trade-in group Music Magpie which plays to its existing strengths in tech refurbishment.
“The key is proving to the market that these acquisitions aren’t wasted money.”
::
Yesterday, German logistics group DACHSER announced it is buying its Scottish partner Drummond Distribution.
The companies have been working together since 2008. West Lothian-based Drummond generated £20m of revenue last year and has 175 staff in five locations across the central belt.
The existing management team, led by Damon Burns, will report to Mark Rollinson, managing director of DACHSER UK and Ireland.
Meanwhile, Aberdeenshire-based Ashtead Technology has received an “unsolicited and non-binding” proposal from Ember Infrastructure Management.
This follows three previous bids from the New York-headquartered private equity firm; the first two of which were “unequivocally rejected” by the board.
The latest proposal is at a price of 615 pence per Ashtead share, valuing the business at just shy of half a billion pounds. The board is “considering this with its advisers and is providing Ember with preliminary due diligence information”.
The deadline for a firm bid is 21 October.
::
We have great pleasure in opening up ticket sales for a series of Rainmakers lunches with the Yorkshire winners lunch on the 21st of October 2026 at Crowded House in Leeds.
::
::
Thank you for subscribing to Rainmakers.
We believe in good journalism that is worthy of your support. Please share this edition of Rainmakers so we can grow the message further and wider.
The insights and commentary we share with you are rooted in the trust we have built in the business community.
We’re also on LinkedIn - please join our Rainmakers community group for updates and offers and opportunities to comment.
If you have something you think we should look at, then either reply to this newsletter or email michael.taylor@thebusinessdesk.com.
Rainmakers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.