Chewing through the deals of the week
And the winners from the Yorkshire Rainmaker awards last night
Hello Rainmakers,
We’ve had our first Rainmaker awards of the year with the Yorkshire event last night, which was a particularly good night for leading lawyer Jonathan Jones, who won the first lifetime achievement award.
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Rem3dy Health is set to gummy up global wellness markets after securing £14m in new funding, as it looks to chew through its international growth plans.
The Birmingham-based business behind Nourished will use the investment to scale its AI-driven personalised nutrition platform, expand automated manufacturing and scale up growth across new global markets.
Backers include Suntory, Estrella Galicia, Apollo Hospitals and UPSA, alongside Future Planet Capital Regional, signalling strong international appetite for the West Midlands firm’s technology-led model.
Expansion plans include the US, MENA and India, while the company also looks to branch out into personalised nutrition for pets as demand for tailored wellness continues to grow.
Founder and CEO Melissa Snover said: “Securing this funding marks a major milestone for us. Following a year of significant transformation and against one of the toughest fundraising environments in recent years, we are now in a strong position to scale globally.
“Our focus on automation, advanced manufacturing and AI-driven personalisation is enabling us to redefine how consumers engage with their health - and also extend that innovation into new categories such as personalised health for pets.”
The raise follows a strong year of growth, with revenue up 61% to £10.21m and efficiency gains driven by automation helping to juice up production performance.
With output now at around 500,000 personalised gummies a day and more than 150 million nutrient “stacks” produced, the business is shaping up for further global expansion.
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Jonathan Jones scooped the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award at the TheBusinessDesk.com’s Yorkshire Rainmaker Awards.
Jones, who recently stepped down as European managing partner of Squire Patton Boggs after spending more than three decades at the firm, is a stalwart of the Yorkshire corporate finance community. has also built a reputation as one of the region’s leading corporate lawyers, with more than 300 deals under his belt spanning £5m to £800m.
Accepting the accolade Jones, said he was “absolutely delighted and very flattered”, adding that success in high-level dealmaking is “very much a team sport” and that he had been fortunate to work with “extremely talented colleagues and clients” throughout his career.
Reflecting on his career highlights, he pointed to two standout moments: advising Zenith and its management team from their first deal in 2011 through four subsequent transactions, culminating in the £750m Bridgepoint deal, and his involvement in the £783m Keepmoat transaction with BoSIF in 2013.
He also noted the transformation of Hammonds (which went onto become Squire Patton Boggs) after its difficult period in 2004, saying he was “very proud that the firm has evolved into the excellent corporate-led adviser it is today — the result of a lot of hard work from a lot of people.”
Asked what advice he would give to young dealmakers in the room, Jonathan said: “Turn your clients into your friends, surround yourself with talented people and recognise the contribution they make, don’t take yourself too seriously, and above all enjoy yourself. We all spend a huge amount of time in the office, and having fun while doing deals makes the whole process easier.”
Elsewhere, Jonny Sharp of Cerelo was named Rainmaker of the Year. Sharp, who co-founded the corporate finance boutique in 2024, said: “Yorkshire has some world class businesses and it is our job to share that to the world. That’s what is next.”
Changemaker of the Year went to Jayne Dunford, LDC and the Rising Star award went to Rachel Holloway, Endless.
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Frasers Group has made a near €2bn (£1.73bn) move to take full control of Hugo Boss, as it looks to tighten its grip on the German fashion brand after years of building its stake.
The Mike Ashley-controlled retailer already owns around 26% of Hugo Boss and has offered €38 per share for the remaining shares, valuing the business at about €1.98bn and putting the group in pole position to suit up for full ownership.
The deal would mark a major wardrobe upgrade for Frasers, expanding its reach further into premium fashion if shareholders and regulators give it the green light.
Frasers, which owns Sports Direct, Flannels and Frasers, has steadily increased its stake since 2020, with Hugo Boss already contributing to gains in the group’s investment portfolio.
The offer remains subject to approval, with Frasers aiming to button up the transaction in the second half of the year.
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Coriant, an industrial services platform backed by global private equity investor HIG Capital, is on the road to further expansion with its acquisition of Westcott Group. The deal means two businesses have become part of Coriant - Hull-based SGS, an access solutions provider serving complex industrial environments and Jarrow-based Westcott Industrial Services, a provider of specialist industrial coatings, fire protection and industrial maintenance services.
The takeover is intended to further strengthen Coriant’s national footprint and technical capabilities across critical infrastructure, industrial processing, energy and defence-related markets, while providing both acquired businesses with access to a larger platform, enhanced resources and long-term investment support. Coriant delivers services across the full lifecycle of industrial and infrastructure assets, supporting customers throughout installation, maintenance, refurbishment and decommissioning programmes. The latest deal follows its acquisition of scaffolding and access contractor SCA earlier this year.
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EnQuest is set to acquire interests in four offshore production sharing contracts in Malaysia.
Three separate farm‑out agreements with Petronas Carigali and E&P Malaysia Venture are being snapped up for $833m, of which $554m is payable upon completion; expected at the end of this year.
EnQuest’s board believes the deal “will deliver a step change in production, reserves and cash flow, as well as providing significant organic opportunities for future growth”.
The transaction is expected to be funded by the company’s existing debt facilities and cash resources. It will also mean the group’s South East Asia contribution is set to increase to 69%, with the UK North Sea contributing 31%.
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Clearwater UK has said it is in “the best possible position” to prosper, with a strong order book and a future as part of KeyCorp, as it announced a resilient performance in its past financial year.
However, its total volume of deals completed dropped to 62 transactions in the 12 months to March 2026, down from 74 the previous year, with its M&A and Debt Advisory specialists advising on deals across the UK and in a broad range of sectors.
Almost half of the transactions involved private equity investors. The firm said Business Services, Tech & Tech Services and Industrials & Chemicals were the key sectors that drove deal activity during its 2025-26 financial year.
In the year to the end of March 2025 the business, which operates as a partnership, enjoyed the most successful year in the history of the firm, achieving £52.2m, a 75% increase on the previous year, and £27.7m in profits to be distributed to the partners, off the back of 74 deals completed.
The update comes after the news reported first on TheBusinessDesk.com that US regional investment bank KeyCorp is to acquire the UK entity of Clearwater in a deal due to complete in the coming months. The agreement will see the firm become part of KeyCorp’s KeyBank Capital Markets business, providing Clearwater with the additional scale and resources to provide enhanced M&A and Debt Advisory advice to clients.
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Palatine Growth Credit, the regionally focused lender supporting established high-growth businesses, has passed a £50 million committed limit milestone and is pledging to continue to do more to support thriving tech clusters across the UK.
Nearly two years after the first deal from the pioneering £81 million Growth Credit Fund, the team led by experienced tech fund manager William Chappel has grown to six people and completed 13 deals, with many more in the pipeline.
“We’ve now committed around two thirds of the fund, and we have done what we set out to achieve at launch by supporting established Sponsor-backed companies based across the UK regions to accelerate their growth, whilst giving founders the chance to reduce dilution of their equity stakes.”
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The 2026 Rainmaker Awards
After last night’s great event the North West and West Midlands Rainmaker Awards are the next ones upon us, once again bringing together the region’s deals community to celebrate the standout deals, teams, and individuals of the past 12 months.
Voted for by the corporate finance community itself, the awards are decided on a one-firm, one-vote basis – making the Rainmaker a genuine peer-led recognition.
Voting forms have landed, after the shortlists have been agreed by a judging day involving all the region’s leading firms.
The Rainmaker Awards ditch black-tie formality and speeches in favour of a relaxed evening focused on what the deals and the people who made them happen.
The evening is also a great way to connect with leading firms and individuals shaping the regional deal landscape.
There is a new individual category this year, as we will recognise Lifetime Achievement of one of our Rainmakers for the first time.
The North West awards will take place on the 25th of June 2026 at the Kimpton Hotel in Manchester city centre, and the West Midlands at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham on the 2nd of July.
We have also now announced dates and an opening for entries for the East Midlands event on the 5th of November in Nottingham and the South West event on the 26th of November in Bristol.
Last years events sold out, so book early to secure your table.
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