Where the money really is...
Our weekly look at M&A issues and news across the regions
Happy Friday Rainmakers!
This is our weekly look at deals around our regions.
Is everyone setting their stall out for a steady summer and a change of government?
We’ve got buy-and-build acquirers chalking up the air miles sealing deals before our summer.
Meetings are being set up to start processes that often take months, and investment businesses are throwing out expressions of interest to cue deals up.
Also, in this post, you’ll see a report from our event with Ruth Percival, who is building a national consultancy business for specialist businesses in the built environment.
But she also told guests some shocking stories, and tells how she was on the wrong end of attention from some sexual predators and some bullies in her career, often for a sustained period of time, and they pop up in clients, in counterparties, even within senior leadership.
This is free, but our subscriber only notes this week have had some great market insights on the stock market and the secrets of successful integration.
FORESIGHT OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Regional private equity and infrastructure investment manager, Foresight, said it is ready to invest more than £100m.
Having supported the successful growth of a number of companies, including Liverpool-based Mowgli Street Food, Cheshire-based laboratory products specialist ONFAB, Bolton-based community driven healthcare service provider ABL, and Manchester translation services provider DA Languages, Foresight is investing in growing companies based in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Lancashire, Liverpool City Region, and North Wales.
Recent investments include a £9.97m deal to support the growth of Trak Global Security Solutions, a technology business based in Crewe focused on stolen vehicle recovery, tech manufacturer Assembly Contracts Limited, boutique financial planning company Five Wealth, and business intelligence platform Red Flag Alert.
Claire Alvarez, Partner at Foresight Group, pictured above, said: “We are always keen to build our network, so even if a deal may be some time away, we are always happy to meet business owners and their advisers to discuss options.
“Alongside investment, we have a large network of experienced non-executives who can help founders and management teams achieve their business ambitions by supporting them with advice, mentoring and, of course, their own industry connections.”
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DAINS BUYING AGAIN
Accountancy firm Dains is at it again. The company, which has offices in Derby and Birmingham, this week completed their second deal of the month and ninth in all since Horizon Capital ploughed some private equity cash into the firm at the back end of 2021.
Richard McNeilly's team has hit the north again and expanded its presence in Scotland after snapping up Condies Chartered Accountants, which operates from Dunfermline, Edinburgh and Dundee. Dains entered the Scottish market after buying William Duncan + Co (now Dains Scotland) in September 2022.
Dains are suddenly becoming ones to watch. Bullish without being braggards, the firm could well force itself onto the national stage before long. It now has 700 staff - and has added 500 since Horizon invested - to propel itself close to the top 30 number crunchers by size in three short years. Impressive stuff.
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THE BVCA AND THE LABOUR PARTY - A BURGEONING PARTNERSHIP
A delegation of senior figures from the world of private equity and venture capital discussed how to unlock greater investment in the West Midlands economy with its new Labour Mayor, Richard Parker, at a roundtable convened by the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA).
It’s part of the charm offensive the industry is undertaking, including building relationships with the future Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
During the roundtable, held in Birmingham on Wednesday 19 June, investors and businesses including Mercia and LDC discussed how to improve the skills of the local population, and increase the number of high quality, well-paid jobs. The group also considered reforms to the planning system which would increase investment into local businesses.
The private capital industry invested £300m in the West Midlands in 2023, supporting 285,000 jobs across the region. Much of this investment was directed to businesses in biotech, healthcare and consumer goods and services.
Michael Moore, BVCA Chief Executive said: “Private capital plays a key role in bringing investment to every nation and region.
“Last year alone, the industry invested £115m in biotech and healthcare businesses in the region, helping our nation become a Science Superpower and progressing the ways in which we develop innovative medical treatments.
“The economic impact could be even more significant if industry and government can work together to address some of the barriers to investment.”
Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, formerly a PwC partner, said: “We want to support local entrepreneurs and businesses access the capital they need to scale-up and thrive.”
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Former data software group WANdisco chief executive David Richards returns as chair of a South Yorkshire-based artificial intelligence platform which is poised to float on the Aquis Stock Exchange. IntelliAM uses AI to enhance the operating efficiency of the existing assets of its manufacturing clients. It is a high profile come back for Richards, who left WANdisco - now rebranded as Cirata - shortly after news broke of a major fraud at the business in March last year. It was a rather messy departure, as Richards was asked by his old company's board to repay thousands of pounds in bonus payments, requests which he rejected.
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Ruth Percival, chief executive of Contollo stunned attendees at the Rainmakers lunch at Manchester Hall this week (19 June 2024) with stories from her career and her ambitions for her latest business venture.
She not only told the exciting story about how she started buy-and-build consultancy Contollo with entrepreneur Oliver Dennis, and the financial backing of private equity investor NorthEdge, but her own personal journey through some real challenges dating back to when she was the only female corporate finance partner in a top six firm.
She gripped the room when she recounted how she was often treated in her earlier career: “I was shouted out. I was threatened. I even had someone trying to bribe me with a considerable amount of money to get the outcome on a particular deal. I didn’t take it, by the way, before you are asking.”
She said some of the issues were particular to the way the corporate finance world is set up.
“The thing with business and deal doing is you’ve got some key ingredients to that. You’ve got Alpha personalities, you’ve got ego, you’ve got money and power,” she said.
“What you see there is a distortion of power. So men have it, women don’t. Which is, which has been true through a lot of my career. That’s where some of those toxic things start to happen.
“I could tell you some stories that would really make your make your hair curl and I have experienced things that you would not want your wife or your daughters, and certainly my daughters, to ever experience.
“I was on the wrong end of attention from some sexual predators and some bullies in my career, often for a sustained period of time, and they pop up in clients, in counterparties, even within senior leadership.”
Looking around the room and addressing a mixed audience of women and men, she said: “I can see there’s lots more women in corporate finance, certainly. But what we need is for those women to be seeded all the way through the upper echelons, not just in corporate finance, but within clients, within private equity houses, within banks all the way through. And then we’ll start to see that balance of power shift.”
She ended the on-stage interview with a plea to the Rainmakers network in the room that Contollo was open to doing deals. She explained what they were looking for businesses in cost management consultancy, quantity surveying and project management in the built environment, and mechanical and electrical engineering businesses.
“We want businesses with between 15 and 80 people.
“We are we want to strengthen sectors, so we are unafraid of customer and sector concentration. You might be really worried that a business has 80% with one client or in a particular sector. We love that, because what it does is it brings scale immediately to our sector offering. So that just does not put us off,” she said.
“We’ve got an ambition to grow to 400 people. That’s still quite a small consultancy practice across the UK, so it’ll still have some personality. Everyone should still know who each other are. That is a better proposition than selling to some massive, faceless multinational, and we can de-risk significantly for an entrepreneur so they can take the money off the table, but they’ve still got an appetite to grow their business, to get involved, to join our team.”
She added: “Our ambition is to help our clients achieve their net zero ambitions. We think it’s a really, really exciting and compelling place to work. So please, if you’ve got contacts from that area, then please do introduce us.”
Amy Salt, who works in senior sales at Datasite said: “It was really interesting to hear about Ruth and Oliver’s journey through the years and how they have reached where they are now. Incredibly inspiring for the younger generations starting their careers in the M&A industry!”
Suzie Goodfellow from Mills and Reeve, said: “Some might think the corporate finance world is dull and dry, or else that it’s all just about making money and egos. It’s good to hear the human stories behind the strategies and the deals.
“Thanks Ruth Percival for sharing your interesting and exciting highs and for being honest and open about the lows. I’m also glad things are changing for our kids, especially the women. Class venue, good food and company and brilliant to hear some of Ruth’s story.”
Joel Durkin from Freshfield said: “Excellent and insightful afternoon at TheBusinessDesk.com’s Rainmakers lunch event in Manchester, hearing about Ruth Percival and Contollo’s plan to grow a buy-and-build consultancy from scratch as well as Ruth’s own journey in corporate finance.
“There were some really interesting perspectives on the different options for company owners looking to exit, including Employee Ownership Trusts.”
Mike Mesrie of MDM resourcing said: “Really inspiring to listen to Ruth Percival’s story of both her career and how she came to set up Contollo.
“Shocking to hear the behaviour Ruth experienced from men in power as she developed her career. God help any men who behave that way towards any of my daughters as they develop their careers. Hopefully the world is changing.
“Thanks to TheBusinessDesk.com for an excellent event.”
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