Doing deals amidst the turmoil
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Hello Rainmakers,
Amidst the international mayhem caused by Trump’s declaration of a trade war, deals have been getting done, not least in the febrile atmosphere of Istanbul.
We’ve also got a round up of the Pink Stuff sale, and the mega deal in the food industry.
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The CEO of Cheshire-based tech business QBS Dave Stevinson has been in Istanbul sealing a deal to acquire enterprise software distributor Elmer, braving teargas attacks by police on protestors outraged at the arrest of an opponent of President Erdogan, jailed Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu ahead of national elections.
Stevinson inked the deal in a lawyer’s offices on the main square where he said it was “getting lively.”
He told TheBusinessDesk.com: “Yet – There is nothing like the smell of chlorobenzilidene malonitrile in one’s nostrils to harden the resonance to complete the deal on time and get safely out of Istanbul and back to Alderley Edge!”
There have been nightly rallies outside Istanbul city hall, where hundreds of thousands attended while small groups of demonstrators frequently clashed with police. Security forces have used teargas, water cannons and pepper spray on demonstrators, which Human Rights Watch described as an “unwarranted and unlawful use of police force”.
The acquisition continues QBS’ journey to bolster its presence in the META (Middle East, Turkey and Africa) region and continues its journey to become a $1bn global business by 2030. This move aligns QBS goal to significantly expanding their global presence whilst tapping into fast growing emerging markets with promising potential.
Stevinson, who was crowned CEO of the Year at the Business of the Year Awards last year said: “The acquisition of Elmer is a natural next step in our expansion strategy as we integrate our tooling to roll out the QBS platform across the region.”
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A household products group, which capitalised on the "CleanTok" trend in social media to build a viral global presence, has seen its innovative marketing rewarded through being acquired by an American multinational.
Leeds-based Star Brands, owner of The Pink Stuff cleaning paste, has been bought by New York listed RPM International. This deal means an exit for private equity firm Mobeus, which bought Star Brands back in 2019 when the business was mainly a manufacturer of private-label cleaning products for UK retailers.
Pink Stuff Miracle Cleaning Paste has become a household staple across the globe. During Mobeus's partnership, the brand grew to being sold in 118 countries, with the US emerging as its largest market, including deals with Walmart and Amazon.
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Staffordshire’s CTR Group UK has sewn up a pre-pack administration deal to acquire the assets of fashion resale platform Thrift+.
This fashionably timed move ensures Thrift+ can keep its threads intact despite some recent financial difficulties.
Thrift+ ran into a bit of a snag when a major investor withdrew from a signed £2m term sheet, leaving the company in need of some serious patching up.
In true fashion, Thrift+ CEO Joe Metcalfe took to LinkedIn, revealing that the company had to stitch together a quick solution, reaching out to over 150 potential buyers to avoid falling apart.
After working tirelessly, Thrift+ managed to weave through the mergers and acquisitions process.
Now, with CTR Group UK’s help, Thrift+ will continue operating its business as usual for both customers and employees.
Looks like this rescue could be just the right fit after all.
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The takeover tale continues, as Greencore looks set to tuck into rival Bakkavor in a £1.2bn ready-meal mega-merger.
The food-to-go giant, based in Worksop, has struck a deal that would see it take a 56% bite out of its rival, leaving Bakkavor with a still-hearty 44%.
Together, the new group would serve up £4bn in annual revenue.
The initial £1.1bn proposal was rejected by Bakkavor’s board on February 27, followed by a second, revised offer on March 10, which was also sent packing for “significantly undervaluing the company and its future prospects.”
The new offer - 85p and 0.6 Greencore shares for each Bakkavor share - seems to have hit the sweet spot, proving third time lucky after the earlier, bland bids were sent straight back to the kitchen.
Both companies are promising “synergies” in manufacturing, distribution, purchasing, and admin, with no job cuts on the menu just yet.
A further announcement is expected soon, but for now, the deal seems to be simmering nicely.
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Primary Healthcare Properties has upped its bid for Altrincham healthcare property business Assura in an audacious merger proposal and that a merger healthcare property business would be a far better business than selling out to private equity.
PHP hopes a deal for shareholders to vary the amounts of PHP shares and cash, and a retention of the quarterly dividend of 0.84 pence per share which is due to be paid on 9 April 2025 will be enough to convince Assura’s board and shareholders to ditch a tabled “final” bid from private equity giant KKR, which Assura said last month it was minded to accept.
This deal values Assura at approximately £1.5 billion and would be a premium of 23.5% to Assura’s closing share price of 37.4p.
PHP acquired MedicX PLC in 2019 which had a net asset value of approximately £367 million and the merger made £4m of annualised cost saving synergies.
On the 10th of March, TheBusinessDesk.com reported that the Assura board was “minded to recommend” a new offer from a consortium led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) which values the Altrincham-headquartered company at £1.6 billion.
Shore Capital analyst Andrew Saunders said the proposal offers significant value upside over KKR: “while at face value this is lower than the 49p in cash currently sitting on the table from KKR, it offers significantly more in our view once other factors are taken into consideration including the benefits of scale, cost savings and the re-rating potential offered by equity.”
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TheBusinessDesk.com’s Rainmaker Awards return this summer and will showcase a wider cross-section of the region’s deals community.
The hotly-contested regional corporate finance awards will continue to recognise teams, individuals and deals, and the shortlist and winners will be decided on by the community, as always.
This year we are asking all firms to submit a short entry, along with the key deals they have advised on, to ensure our judges have the full information when making their selections.
Once entries have been submitted the shortlists will be drawn up in the usual way, with TheBusinessDesk.com hosting 40+ leading corporate finance professionals on a judging day. Those shortlists are then voted on by a wider group of people from across the community, on a strict one vote per firm basis, to decide our 2025 winners.
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