Quercus Corporate Finance LLP is delighted to announce that it has been shortlisted three times in the 2020 Insider Dealmakers Awards:
Nick Standen, Chairman of Quercus, commented:
“2019 has been an incredibly sucessful year for the team and I am delighted that the community continues to recognise the quality of our proposition with these much valued nominations. Our strategy of providing partner-led insight to the mid-market continues to serve us well, and we enter 2020 with a large and exciting pipeline.”
Quercus Corporate Finance is delighted to announce the sale of BBS Consultants & Actuaries to Broadstone Group.
The Quercus team, led by Andy Clegg, advised the Board of BBS Consultants & Actuaries Limited (“BBS”) on the sale of the Company to Broadstone Group (‘Broadstone”), the employee benefits and pensions consultancy specialist backed by mid-market Private Equity firm, Livingbridge. The consideration was funded through a combination of additional funds from Livingbridge and debt facilities from Broadstone’s banking partners.
Headquartered in Bristol with a recently established South East presence, BBS is a highly respected specialist firm of workplace pensions consultants, actuaries, investment advisers and administrators providing a full suite of pensions advice and management solutions for trustees and employers. Founded in 1997, BBS has grown to become one of, if not, the leading independent pensions consultancy in the South West, employing over 125 people with a broad client base ranging from local businesses to large, blue-chip organisations.
Broadstone is an acquisitive group having made four acquisitions since Livingbridge invested in 2016, with three of those acquisitions being in the past 12 months. BBS represents Broadstone’s largest acquisition to date and provides them with significant additional scale and increased breadth of services as well as significant cross-selling opportunities across the enlarged client base.
Andrew Clegg, Partner at Quercus said:
“We have enjoyed working with the team on this important transaction in the fast consolidating pensions advisory market where we anticipate further M&A activity. BBS is a fantastic local business with an exceptional reputation for providing high quality advice and exemplary customer service. In Broadstone, BBS has found an acquirer that shares its ‘client-first’ culture and ethos and I look forward to seeing the enlarged group prosper in the coming years.”
James Stanfield, Chairman and founder-shareholder of BBS added:
“We are delighted that BBS has joined forces with Broadstone, a like-minded business with ambitious plans and we are confident that the business will thrive under its ownership. The sale is the culmination of a two-year journey with Quercus who have guided us every step of the way. They are a highly experienced relationship-driven team and the quality of the advice and service we received throughout was a significant factor in a successful Transaction. We are delighted with the outcome.”
The Terra Alliance held its latest bi-annual international corporate finance meeting in New York last week hosted by the American consumer products and retail specialist member firm, Consensus (www.consensusadvisors.com). The meeting represents the Terra Alliance’s 36th international corporate finance meeting following the most recent gathering in Madrid in April 2019.
Representatives of the Terra Alliance’s 16 member firms came together to discuss current and future opportunities for cross-border M&A and capital raisings. The member firms reported strong activity so far in 2019 as well as continued growth in cross-border deals involving members.
This year’s meeting was preceded by the 9th Annual Consensus Great Brands Show (www.greatbrandsshow.com) at the NY TimesCenter in Times Square, New York City. This was the first time members of the Terra Alliance participated in The Great Brands Show, which featured 33 fast-growing consumer brands presenting and exhibiting to an audience of financial entities representing trillions of dollars of capital, major retailers and other significant consumer industry participants.
During the Terra Alliance meeting, it was announced that Origin Merchant Partners of Toronto, Canada would join The Terra Alliance with immediate effect. Origin Merchant Partners is Canada’s largest independent investment bank. They provide advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, recapitalization and restructuring as well as real estate investment and advisory in Canada.
The next Terra Alliance meeting will be held in the Spring of 2020 and will be hosted by member firm Raiffeisen Bank International, which is headquartered in Vienna, Austria with offices throughout Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.
Quercus Corporate Finance is delighted to announce the sale of intelligentgolf Limited (intelligentgolf) to ClearCourse Partnership LLP (ClearCourse).
The Quercus team, acting for the Board of intelligentgolf, was led by Andrew Clegg. ClearCourse has the financial backing of Aquiline Capital Partners, a New York and London-based private equity firm.
Intelligentgolf is the market leading provider of cloud-based software services to the UK golf industry. With over 500 customers worldwide, the platform is used to provide tournament management, handicapping, membership, tee time management website and electronic point of sale systems to golf clubs and organisations throughout the UK and beyond.
The deal represents the tenth company to join ClearCourse since its foundation in October 2018.
ClearCourse was founded to add value in UK businesses that provide software and payment processing services to a variety of membership organisations including non-profits, trade associations, trade unions, sporting bodies and charities. It acquires innovative businesses with strong management teams and complementary offerings, facilitating operational and commercial synergies and enabling cross-selling of relevant products and services.
Intelligentgolf is the first acquisition ClearCourse has made in the sports & leisure sector and is an important milestone, expanding its offering into a new market and enabling its existing companies to offer their solutions to new end users.
Financial details have not been disclosed.
Andrew Clegg, Quercus Partner, said:
“It has been a real pleasure working with Jamie and Denise and we are delighted to have found a good home for their business, with tremendous opportunities for further growth. We wish everyone at Intelligentgolf and ClearCourse every success for the future.”
Jamie Abbott, CEO of Intelligentgolf added:
“We are very grateful to the Quercus team for their guidance and support on this important transaction for us. Their experience and knowledge have been extremely helpful in our understanding of the process and they have delivered a great outcome for the business – we are really excited to be part of the ClearCourse partnership and to help continue its success.”
Quercus Corporate Finance is delighted to announce the sale of Cecile Park Publishing Limited (CPP) (trading as DataGuidance) to OneTrust Partnership Limited (OneTrust).
The Quercus team, led by Andrew Clegg, advised the Board of CPP (DataGuidance), an in-depth and up-to-date privacy and security research platform, on the sale of the company to OneTrust.
OneTrust offers a dedicated privacy management technology platform used by more than 2,500 customers to implement their privacy, security and third-party risk programs, automatically generating the specific record keeping needed to demonstrate compliance with privacy regulations including GDPR, California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and Brazil LGPD.
The deal will enable DataGuidance to access additional expertise in the provision of privacy management solutions, and accelerate sales growth and geographic expansion.
Financial details have not been disclosed.
Andrew Clegg, Quercus Partner said:
“DataGuidance is a special business and we have enjoyed working with the team on this important deal. The privacy intelligence and data market is particularly active at present given the increasing focus on personal data and privacy and we anticipate further M&A activity. OneTrust represents an excellent fit for DataGuidance; they have an ambitious growth strategy and their sales experience and financial strength provide the support necessary to take the business to the next level.”
Alasdair Douglas, Chairman of DataGuidance added:
“We are very grateful to Quercus for their support. Andy and his team guided us through the sale process very professionally, providing strategic advice, pragmatic solutions and first-rate execution capability throughout.”
As the exclusive UK member firm for the Terra Alliance international M&A network, Quercus Corporate Finance is pleased to announce that:
Particular sectors of interest in 2018 included Diversified Industrials, Consumer Products & Services, Technology and Energy & Mineral Products.
Andrew Clegg, Quercus Partner and member of the Terra Alliance Steering Committee, commented:
"We worked with many partner firms on cross-border deals in 2018 and these latest figures once again demonstrate the power of the Terra Alliance across the globe. Many of our clients remain ambitious to grow internationally and the network consistently offers global reach and scale, local market knowledge and direct access to potential buyers and sellers."
The Quercus team, led by Amanda Hall and Andrew Clegg, advised the Board of GTK, a UK-based manufacturer of customised electronic solutions including cable assemblies, displays and connectors, on the sale of the group to global provider of cable assemblies, Volex plc. The transaction represented an exit for funds administered by YFM Equity Partners who originally backed a buy out of the business led by John Morath in 2013.
Headquartered in Basingstoke and with operations in the UK, Romania and Taiwan, GTK has been in business for more than 25 years. Focused on the Northern European market, GTK has over 300 active customers, supported by a highly skilled European-based sales and engineering team.
In addition to bringing UK manufacturing back into the Volex Group after a gap of over 10 years, the acquisition expands Volex's market leading cable assemblies division. Furthermore GTK’s business introduces important new capabilities, customer relationships and innovative new products to the Volex Group.
Volex acquired GTK for a total consideration of approximately £14.3m.
Amanda Hall, Founding Partner of Quercus said:
“From the outset it was clear how important it was for the GTK Board that we found a strategic partner that would allow the business to continue to flourish under new ownership and where GTK could bring valuable new competences to that partnership. In Volex I believe we have found that partner. It has been an absolute pleasure working with the management team and YFM to deliver this great result.”
John Morath, managing director of GTK added:
“I believe this is an excellent deal for both GTK and Volex. We know that in Volex we have found a buyer that shares the same corporate values we have at GTK. In turn GTK enhances Volex’s offerings in a number of key strategic areas. The advice provided by Amanda and the team at Quercus was straight-forward, objective and highly commercial.”
The Quercus team, led by Mark Whelan, advised the Board of Environmental Resource Group (“ERG”), on the sale of the business to specialist waste and recycling company, Red Industries (“Red”), supported by a £39m funding package from BGF and HSBC.
Headquartered in Brownhills in the West Midlands with further operations in Dudley, ERG is one of the UK’s largest privately owned hazardous and non-hazardous waste management groups. The founder shareholders have been transforming the hazardous waste industry for more than 20 years, driven by a vision to reduce materials away from landfill and provide clients with cost effective and environmentally compliant waste management solutions.
The combined business will have greatly increased scale enhancing its competitiveness in the marketplace as a result of cross-selling opportunities and increased economies of scale. It will also provide Red with access to ERG’s market-leading sales and client support team and sought-after and innovative European trans-frontier shipment routes, unlocking further opportunities for the enlarged group.
Mark Whelan, Partner at Quercus said:
“We are delighted to have successfully helped the owners of ERG to sell the business to Red. ERG’s extensive customer base and strong, customer service focused culture and business model complements Red’s existing operations well."
Aron James, CEO and majority shareholder of ERG added:
“The shareholders of ERG are delighted with the result the Quercus team delivered for us. It was a deal that will form a new and exciting entity within our sector and we are proud to have played a part within that. Quercus were excellent throughout the process, guiding the shareholders through the challenges set before them. Quercus’ sector expertise, was for sure, pivotal in getting the deal across the line.”
Quercus Corporate Finance LLP is delighted to announce that it has been shortlisted three times in the 2019 Insider Dealmakers Awards.
The team has been shortlisted as 'Corporate Finance Team of the Year' and Founding Partner Andrew Clegg received 'Corporate Finance Adviser of the Year' and 'Dealmaker of the Year' nominations.
Nick Standen, Chairman of Quercus, commented:
“2018 has been our most successful year to date and I am delighted that the community continues to recognise our latest deal activity with these much valued nominations. Our strategy of providing partner-led insight and clear and objective advice to the mid-market continues to serve us well, and we enter the New Year busier than ever.”
The Quercus team, led by Andrew Clegg, has advised Boundless on the acquisition of Parliament Hill, a leading provider of membership benefits, membership services and professional indemnity insurance.
Headquartered in Brighton, Boundless is an established home, motoring and leisure association, offering attractive discounts and offers on insurance, travel, leisure activities and holidays to its c.230,000 members.
Parliament Hill also works exclusively in the membership sector. It uses the collective buying power of its clients (and their 3 million members) to negotiate outstanding terms on products and services relevant to members as individuals, within their families, in their businesses and for their careers. The business was founded by Andrew Holden who will continue to lead the business going forward.
The acquisition supports the vision of Boundless to leverage its expertise and expand into complementary activities. Financial details have not been disclosed.
Andrew Clegg, Quercus Partner said:
“Parliament Hill represents an excellent fit with Boundless given their complementary areas of focus in the member benefits sector. Andrew Holden has done an excellent job growing the brand to its current size and the financial strength provided by Boundless will help Parliament Hill to grow even faster.”
Carl Fillery, CEO of Boundless added:
“Our relationship with the Quercus team stretches back some 12 years and we are once again delighted to have benefited from their advice and insights on what represents a transformational transaction for us. These are exciting times for Boundless and our members and we very much look forward to working with Andrew Holden and the Parliament Hill team as they seek to execute on a very exciting growth plan.”
