Happy Friday Rainmakers,
When household names change hands, there’s an extra layer of interest and intrigue, and so it is with Boots, TalkTalk and Leger Shearings 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.
There is something reassuringly old-school about the Weston family’s £6.8bn acquisition of Boots. At a time when private equity is often accused of financial engineering, short-term horizons and extracting value through successive ownership changes, the Canadians are selling a rather different proposition: patient capital, operational experience and a long-term bet on a business they understand through their ownership of Shoppers Drug Mart.
Of course, £6.8bn is a sizeable cheque to write for a pharmacy and beauty chain operating in a market under pressure from cost inflation, online competition and the changing economics of high street retail.
The corporate finance question is whether this is a genuine platform for growth or simply a very expensive way to buy back into a sector the Westons know well. Their Selfridges track record suggests they understand the value of investing in an established brand, but Boots is a very different beast, with a healthcare role, 50,000 employees and a much broader footprint.
For Nottingham, meanwhile, the prospect of a stable owner with deep pockets could prove more consequential than another change of name above the boardroom door.
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The pre-pack deal for BT to buy Salford Quays-based telecoms and broadband supplier, TalkTalk Group, out of administration, preserving all 900 jobs concludes months of uncertainty over the future of the business but could still face challenge to the competition authorities.
However, BT has clearly been given leeway on competition concerns because the UK government is concerned about the risks involved in TalkTalk collapsing, not least thanks to its position as a supplier of services to the Ministry of Defence.
At one time TalkTalk was worth £2bn but it has struggled with cashflow difficulties and debt costs.
As Russ Mould, investment director at Manchester investment platform, AJ Bell, said: “While TalkTalk’s customer base has been steadily whittled down by tough competition in the broadband market, it still had some 1.6 million customers as of this May.
“Adding these customers to its ranks will entrench BT’s competitive position, even if the company will have to take a sizeable initial cash hit as it progresses the deal.”
Alvarez & Marsal Europe completed a sale of two of the company’s operating subsidiaries, Platform X Communications and TalkTalk Telecommunications, to BT.
TalkTalk was founded in 2003 and grew to become one of the UK’s largest connectivity providers and a long standing challenger in the broadband market.
A spokesperson for Ares Management added: “As a long standing capital provider and partner to TalkTalk Group, Ares is supportive of today’s transactions, which we believe provide stability to the business and secures continuity of service for Talk Talk’s millions of customers, including critical service providers and vulnerable persons.”
Sources have said that as part of the deal BT had agreed to pay roughly £100m to Ares Management.
Shareholders, including TalkTalk founders, Sir Charles Dunstone and Neil Macarthur, will likely be wiped out.
Sir Charles launched TalkTalk in a bid to capture a big share of Britain’s retail telecoms market.
The business was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2010, when it demerged from Carphone Warehouse, which Sir Charles also co-founded.
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SQM and Marubeni are committing fresh backing to battery recycler Altilium as it prepares to build the UK’s first commercial refinery for critical battery materials.
The Chilean lithium producer and Japanese trading house are supporting ACT 3, a refinery designed to process 24,000 EV batteries a year and recover nickel, lithium and graphite for new battery manufacturing. Altilium has also secured £18.5m in government funding through DRIVE35.
UK battery demand is forecast to surge from 13 GWh in 2027 to 75 GWh by 2035. Chief executive Kamran Mahdavi said his company is “laying the foundation for a globally competitive battery recycling industry in the UK”.
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A South Yorkshire-based travel business has its bags packed for the next stage of its journey with the help of a £22m investment from NatWest. Rotherham-based Leger Shearings Group (LSG), an escorted tour operator, has completed a management buyout which sees chief executive officer Liam Race and chief financial officer Andy Oldfield become the sole shareholders of the business. The latest deal enables the exit of former shareholders Ian Henry, Kathleen Henry and Chris Plummer, completing a long-term succession plan which began with an initial management buyout in 2019 and was further progressed through a NatWest-backed transaction in 2024.
LSG was founded in 1981 and has been going places since then as it now employs around 180 people and generates annual revenues of more than £90m. Through brands including Leger Holidays and Shearings, the business offers escorted coach holidays, river cruises, rail journeys and specialist tours to destinations across the UK, Europe and worldwide.
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This week in Scotland saw a rash of deals done at the smaller end of the scale.
Yesterday, German optical systems manufacturer Zeiss revealed its acquisition of Ceres Holographics, a holographic technology company headquartered in Livingston, which will now becomes part of Zeiss Microoptics, a business unit with a focus on industrialising holography for the automotive, aerospace and consumer markets.
This followed Edinburgh-based VMH Solicitors buying Falkirk-based rival Orme Law, combining strengths in residential property, private client services and estate agency, with the acquirer’s reputation in commercial property, commercial leasing and business services. The deal also extends VMH’s geographic reach across the Lothians and the wider central belt.
Earlier in the week, Connecting Excellence Group bought James Gray Recruitment for an initial cash consideration of £575,000. A further payment of £60,000 is due in 2028, with the remaining consideration deferred and subject to earnings performance over the next few years. More uniquely, the consideration includes an amount equal to the market value of the 8.216 Bitcoin (BTC), now held by James Gray – at £64,657 per BTC – or a total of £531,223. This is now held within the group, bringing Connecting Excellence’s total holding to 81.157 BTC; currently valued at £5.25m.
And finally, US-headquartered group Barnes Aerospace has acquired Dundee-based component renovation business ATL Turbine Services. The transaction provides an exit for Foresight Group, delivering a total return of 3.1-times invested capital for its venture capital trusts.
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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.
Joining us at the Manchester event is our 2026 Rainmaker of the Year – Ed Gale, Tech M&A Partner at Clearwater, plus the Changemaker of the Year Helen Spence, International M&A Director at EY and from the private equity and venture capital team of the year, Josh Bean, Investor at BGF.
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