Good innings for Aussies on Airport deals
Our weekly free round up of key deals and major moves in the Rainmakers world
Hello Rainmakers,
Our premium stories this week were about Asda selling trendy fast food joint Leon, and the bid for a global prize by Adam Root, a former engineer with household appliance firm Dyson who launched his company Matter to look at how he could harness his skills to protect the oceans from microfibres.
Around the country we bring you a pre-pack rescue of a seafood business on the Lancashire coast, and another Microsoft partner changing hands.
And not content with giving us a kicking in the rugby league Test series, the Australians are limbering up for the Ashes cricket Test with another move on our Airports.
This is free to all who have signed up, however Rainmakers subscribers get two unique pieces a week, but 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, and River Capital, Foresight, Mercia, Puma and LDC.
Macquarie has swooped back onto the UK runway, bagging Bristol and Birmingham airports in a double-deal so big it practically needed its own boarding gate.
The Australian investment giant has snapped up a 55% stake in Bristol Airport and 26.5% of Birmingham Airport from Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), a move that suggests Macquarie is collecting UK airports like other people collect fridge magnets.
It’s a homecoming of sorts: Macquarie used to own 50% of Bristol Airport before selling up in 2014. But like any seasoned traveller, it clearly couldn’t resist a return trip.
This time, it brought LGPS Central along as a co-pilot, with the pension pool investing on behalf of West Midlands and Cheshire funds.
Bristol Airport already handles 10 million passengers a year and aims to increase that to 15 million, adding 14,000 extra flights if its expansion plans are approved.
The airport insists it can do all this while still contributing £2bn to the region, talk about flying high.
Birmingham Airport continues to flex its Midlands muscle, serving 14 million passengers, 35 airlines, and 140 direct routes across 41 countries.
Half of England and Wales can reach it within two hours, making it the UK’s most socially accessible airport, even if the queues don’t always agree.
This deal comes just after Macquarie boosted its ownership of London City Airport to 75%.
Macquarie has already invested more than £60bn in UK infrastructure and has another £20bn ready for takeoff.
Clearly, the firm’s appetite for airports isn’t hitting turbulence any time soon.
::
It can’t have been easy for the directors of A.M. Seafoods, a fishing business based in the hard working Lancashire fishing port of Fleetwood, which was sold as part of administration process this week. The deal will enable the business to continue trading under new ownership and secures the jobs of all 78 employees.
The buyer is Devon-based CoombeFish Group, which completed immediately following FRP’s appointment as administrators on Wednesday (5 November). The sale included the transfer of stock, plant, machinery, boats, and the ongoing trade of the businesses.
The company brings ashore crabs, whelks and various other shellfish into a custom built production facility in the historic Lancashire fishing town, and ships fresh products by air around the world. The businesses had faced sustained cashflow pressures due to the impact of adverse weather on catch volumes and rising operating costs.
A look through the last posted annual results showed it made a loss of £847,298 in the 12 months to the end of March 2024, on turnover of £18.6m.
The directors described in the annual report that last year had shown “weak or no growth in sales value in most products” as well as continued increases in costs, including finance costs which went up by over £100,000.
The seafood processing industry has been particularly exposed to volatility in supply and increasing costs, but also that sales of seafood to Europe and China were subdued.
Martyn Rickels, partner at FRP, said: “This sale secures the future of a long-standing and respected group in the UK seafood sector, while protecting jobs and maintaining continuity for customers and suppliers.”
James Spear, Director of Coombefish Holdings Limited, said: “This acquisition aligns well with our long-term strategy and provides a solid platform to build on.”
::
A merger completed this week is certainly not lacking in scale and ambition, as it has created one of the UK’s largest IT services providers, with the combined business now comprising at least 1,000 employees and serving more than 3,000 customers. The deal has seen York-headquartered Trustmarque Group, a technology services partner and Ultima Business Solutions, a managed services provider, join forces to target Gross Invoiced Income growth of more than £1bn.
The team will now be led by Simon Williams as the group’s chief executive officer and Jamie Beaumont as chief financial officer (previously of Ultima). Trustmarque Group was founded in 1987 and has at least 550 employees. Ultima Business Solutions was established in 1990 and has more than 450 staff.
The merger has already caught the attention of at least one household name. Nick Hedderman, Microsoft’s EMEA channel lead, said: “Microsoft is really excited about the merger between Ultima and Trustmarque. Together they will become an incredible powerhouse, helping our shared customers to be successful in the era of AI.”
::
Burton-based Project Better Energy (PBE) has gone full solar flare, snapping up Photon Energy and Elco Group (EG Solar) to power up its commercial ambitions.
The deals plug PBE straight into the B2B renewables market, adding to its existing shine in residential solar, EV charging, and heating under Project Solar UK, Project EV, and Project CÜRV.
Photon Energy and EG Solar bring established experience in commercial and residential builds, plus a few blue-chip clients already basking in their large-scale installations.
With the new acquisitions, PBE claims it’s now one of the UK’s biggest independent renewable energy platforms, with nationwide installation capacity and a growing footprint across homes and businesses.
Chief executive Simon Peat said the acquisitions are “a fantastic milestone” and the first of several strategic add-ons, welcoming 67 new colleagues to the PBE family.
Photon Energy commercial director Jonathan Bates said joining PBE “will accelerate the clean energy mission,” while EG Solar’s Luca Aldibek added that the partnership gives the business the “platform, resources and reach” to tackle even more ambitious projects across the UK.
It was a big night for Bishopsgate Corporate Finance at Wednesday evening’s East Midlands Rainmaker Awards, taking home three trophies! Morgan Atherton won Rainmaker of the Year, Sam Reynolds won Rising Star of the Year and the firm was crowned Regional Corporate Finance Team of the Year.
Sam Metcalf, editor at TheBusinessDesk.com, said: “Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, we are once again delighted and encouraged by the tremendous response from the region’s corporate finance community.
“The enthusiasm, collaboration, and commitment shown by professionals across the East Midlands continue to demonstrate the strength and depth of talent that defines our regional corporate finance landscape.”
The sold-out event brought together more than 300 of the region’s deals community to celebrate the best deals and teams from the past 12 months, as voted for by the corporate finance community themselves in a one firm, one vote system.
📸 👉 View the full list of winners and more images from the evening here: https://lnkd.in/dPeaGhKX
Thank you to partners Codurance, Dow Schofield Watts, Fiscal Engineers Ltd, Gateley Legal and TheBusinessGrid. And drinks reception sponsor Weightmans.
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.