RG Corporate Finance (RGCF) has delivered one of the busiest dealmaking periods in its history, advising on the completion of seven significant transactions in just four weeks.
Set against a challenging economic backdrop, the raft of transactions, which include a number of acquisitions, disposals and private equity fundraises, demonstrates that high performing businesses operating in sectors such as technology, professional services, healthcare and industrials / manufacturing remain attractive to trade acquirers and equity investors alike.
Among the transactions RGCF advised on was the sale of a second-generation owned, Midlands-based specialist chemical distribution company, with revenues of circa £20m, to London based PE House, Euston Capital.
In a transaction completing on the 2 May 2023, RGCF advised the shareholders of Northumberland-based security and facilities services provider, RH Irving Industrials Ltd on its £19.1m acquisition by London Stock Exchange-listed national facilities management company, Mitie Group plc.
RGCF also advised the shareholders of another Northumberland-based business, commercial heating and chilling systems specialist Calibrate Group Limited, on its sale to RSK Group Ltd, a global environmental, engineering and technical services company.
In the technology sector, RGCF advised online neurodiversity training and assessment provider Cognassist on raising £4m of development capital from Gresham House Ventures, which is a growth equity investor and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) based in London.
Continuing its growing position in the technology sector, RGCF helped Newcastle-based employee health and performance specialist ART Health Solutions secure £1m of growth capital from the North East Venture Fund, managed by Mercia.
Completing the series of transactions were a pair in the professional services sector, with RGCF advising acquisitive North West-based MAPD Group on the acquisitions of Ashton-under-Lyne practice Bromleys, and, most recently, Cumbrian law firm Thomson Hayton Winkley (THW) and its sister business The Rural Law Practice (RLP).
Carl Swansbury, Partner and Head of Corporate Finance at RGCF, said: “This has been a stand-out period for RGCF, where, despite the current macro-economic headwinds, high performing businesses in certain sectors remain attractive to equity investors and acquirers.
“These transactions also demonstrate the increased reach of RGCF beyond the North East, both in terms of the clients we advise, the acquirers we are able to identify, along with the equity investors and debt / direct lending funds we are able to attract, regionally, nationally and internationally.
“We apply our deep knowledge of the sectors we focus on, being technology, human capital, professional services, industrials & manufacturing and healthcare, to help our clients in these markets, at all stages of their lifecycle, to secure the funding needed to scale both organically and by acquisition, or, where appropriate, exit their businesses to a strategic trade buyer, PE investor or MBO team to ensure post tax shareholder value is maximised.”
He added: “Completing this number of transactions in a relatively short period of time is also testament to the expertise and dedication of the RGCF team, who work tirelessly on behalf of our clients to deliver the best possible outcomes for shareholders and their businesses.
“With a very strong pipeline of transactions engaged for the remainder of the year, I am confident this trend of increased volumes of transactions and activity will continue.”