Insider can today reveal the shortlisted entries in this year’s Dealmakers Awards. In its 29th year, the 2023 Dealmakers has seen a record number of entries and sponsors, with tickets selling out faster than ever before.
Insider editor Simon Keegan invited more than a dozen of the region’s foremost professionals to consult on the views of the market and then separately assembled a panel of five leading judges to go through all the entries. Finally a shortlist was decided after scrutinising all entries.
Taking place at Manchester Central on Thursday 12th October, Dealmakers is the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the North West’s top corporate financiers, accountants, bankers, funders, lawyers and M&A professionals.
The host of the sold-out event will be award-winning comedian Russell Kane.
Sponsors include Irwin Mitchell (networking booklet), YFM Equity Partners (drinks reception), Hall Brown (Table plan sponsor), Close Brothers Asset Managers (Silent Auction sponsor), Virtual Vaults (photobooth sponsor) and Alvarez & Marsal (gift sponsor).
The shortlist of entries can now be revealed:
Bank/Funder of the Year
Sponsored by PIB Insurance Brokers
NatWest
Barclays
Virgin Money
HSBC
Lloyds
OakNorth Bank
ThinCats
Mid-Market Corporate Finance Team of the Year
Sponsored by Gallagher
Benchmark International
Cortus Advisory Group
RSM UK Corporate Finance LLP
Hurst Corporate Finance
UHY Hacker Young
Cowgills
MHA Moore & Smalley
Grant Thornton
KBS Corporate Sales
DSW
Large Business Corporate Finance Team of the Year
Sponsored by LDC
Rothschild & Co
Clearwater International
DC Advisory
Houlihan Lokey
KPMG
Asset Based Lending Team of the Year
Sponsored by SmartSearch
Praetura Commercial Finance
Close Brothers Invoice Finance
Cynergy Business Finance
Shawbrook
Independent Growth Finance
Mid-size Law Firm of the Year
Sponsored by Vista Insurance
Browne Jacobson
Mills and Reeve
Napthens
Pannone Corporate
CG Professional
JMW
Corporate Law Firm of the Year
Sponsored by Lockton
Addleshaw Goddard
DLA Piper
Hill Dickinson
Squire Patton Boggs
Evershed Sutherland
Gateley Legal
Private Equity Team of the Year
Sponsored by OBI
BGF
Palatine
LDC
NorthEdge
Foresight
WestBridge
Venture Capital Team of the Year
Sponsored by Peel Hunt
YFM Equity Partners
Maven Capital Partners
Praetura Ventures
Foresight Group
Seneca Partners
Transaction Services Team of the Year
Sponsored by ThinCats
PwC
Dow Schofield Watts
EY
KPMG
Claritas Tax
Deloitte LLP
Cortus
RSM
Turnaround Team of the Year
Sponsored by Shore Capital
Kroll
PwC
Interpath Advisory
Alvarez & Marsal
International Deal of the Year
Sponsored by a2e
- Sale of St Pierre Groupe to Mexico headquartered Grupo Bimbo (BGF, Harris Williams, Pinsent Masons, KPMG, PwC, McKinsey)
- Sale of the MSS Group to Stellex Capital Management (HSBC, KPMG, LEK Consulting, Hill Dickinson, Jamieson, Stellex Capital Management, Deloitte, PwC, King & Spalding)
- Acquisition of Logikal group of companies by Assystem Energy & Infrastructure Limited (Napthens, Maddocks (Sydney), Stephenson Harwood (Hong Kong), RSM, KWM (Sydney), SCD Advisory (Sydney)
- NorthEdge sale of majority stake in Cloud Technology Solutions Group to Marlin Equity Partners (Arma Partners, Squire Patton Boggs, PwC, Altman Solon)
- CMAC acquisition of Barcelona-based SunTransfers (Signature Corporate Finance, ILV Silver, BDO, PwC)
- TDC sale of a minority equity position to KKR (TDC, Deloitte, Addleshaw Goddard, Macfarlanes, Ashcombe Advisers, Kroll, Norton Rose, Latham Watkins)
Deal of the Year (sub £10m)
Sponsored by PMD Business Solutions
- APEM’s acquisition of Macro Works (DSW, Capital Law, CIL, BDO, WestBridge)
- KCA Holdings £5.3m investment from BGF (BGF, Mills & Reeve, Hurst, Vim Vithaldas, MHA Moore & Smalley, Butcher and Barlow)
- £4.5m Series A investment into Red Flag Alert (Brabners, Sedulo, RW Blears, Foresight, Uncapped)
- The Progress Group’s acquisition of AC Education (FRP Corporate Finance, Grant Thornton)
- £6.5m Series A investment into Biorelate (YFM Equity Partners, Maven Capital Partners, Catapult Ventures, Triplepoint Ventures, Manchester Tech Trust, Pannone Corporate, CMS, The Start up Factory, Candesic, Craig Corporate, Lockton)
- Fundraise for Built for Athletes (Cleveland Scott, JMW Solicitors, River Capital, Napthens, Whittingham Riddell, Knight Transaction Services, Beans Accountants)
- Sale of LPJY Investment Limited, the holding company of Bring Digital Limited, to Dark Matter Commerce Limited (MHA Moore and Smalley, KBL Solicitors, Foresight, TLT Solicitors, Mazars)
- MBO and Investment in Think Energy Group (t/a as Think Hire) (YFM Equity Partners, FRP Corporate Financee, Hill Dickinson, Cowgills, Alexander & Co, Rowan Partners, Lockton, Graph Strategy, PNC Business Credit, LLM)
- Total Fitness, growth funding from £6.5m loan from OakNorth Bank (OakNorth Bank, Dow Schofield Watts, Pannone Corporate, Browne Jacobson)
Deal of the Year (£10m-£50m)
Sponsored by Rowan
- The acquisition of Aesthetic Technology by a newco backed by Omni Partners LLP (Brabners, KPMG, Mayer Brown, Omni Partners, Thincats, W&I Insurance Brokers)
- The acquisition by Beech Tree Private Equity of Arc UK Systems Limited (DLA Piper, Knights, PwC, Dow Schofield Watts, Gallaghers)
- Sale of Veincentre to CBPE Capital LLP (Grant Thornton Corporate Finance, Addleshaw Goddard, KPMG, CIL, Santander, Palatine Private Equity, CBPE, Eversheds Sutherland, FRP Corporate Finance, PwC, Candesic, Rickitt Mitchell)
- LDC’s investment in Talos360 (LDC, Houlihan Lokey, Addleshaw Goddard, GP Bullhound, DWF)
- Apiary Capital investment in First Intuition (Browne Jacobson, Clearwater International, EY, TDC, Addleshaw Goddard, HWF Partners, RSM, Dow Schofield Watts, Lockton, Osborne Clarke, CIL, GK Strategy, Firefly Partners)
- Azets acquisition of Gorilla Accounting (Hill Dickinson, Convex Capital, Shoosmiths)
- BES Group’s Acquisition of XEIAD (Dow Schofield Watts, Pinsent Masons, PwC, KPMG, Armstrong)
- Sale of Coeus Consulting Limited to French listed Wavestone S.A (Cowgills, Hill Dickinson, PCB Partners, Dentons, Grant Thornton)
- Secondary buyout of Alpine Fire Engineers (Addleshaw Goddard, Pinsent Masons, BDO, Blick Rothenberg, Clearwater International. Grant Thornton, Jamieson Corporate Finance, Soho Square Capital, WestBridge and Shawbrook)
Deal of the Year (£50m+)
Sponsored by Aon
- Sale of O’Connors (OCU Group) to Triton Partners (Clearwater International, Addleshaw Goddard, PwC, Roland Berger, CVC, Evercore, White & Case)
- MSS Group investment from Stellex Capital Management (King & Spalding, PwC, Deloitte, HSBC, Hill Dickinson, KPMG, L.E.K. Consulting, Jamieson Corporate Finance)
- Disposal of the Co-operative Group’s petrol filling station business (and associated retail outlets) to Asda Stores Limited (Addleshaw Goddard, Rothschild & Co, Deloitte, Oxera, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Allen & Overy; Charles Russell Speechley
- Sale of St Pierre Groupe to Mexico headquartered Grupo Bimbo (BGF, Harris Williams, Pinsent Masons, KPMG, PwC, McKinsey)
- Sale of Cardinal Maritime Group to an Employee Ownership Trust (Houlihan Lokey, DWF, Addleshaw Goddard, KPMG, FRP Corporate Finance, Roland Berger)
- Palatine exit and reinvest in global sustainability consultancy Anthesis (Palatine, Lazard, Evershed Sutherland, Deloitte, Swan Partners, RSM, Boston Consulting Group)
- Sale of the minority shareholdings in Heatmiser Beijing, a Chinese entity, to Heatmiser UK Ltd, followed by the eventual sale of Heatmiser UK Ltd to IMI plc (RSM UK, RSM China, DLA Piper, KPMG, PwC)
Emerging Dealmaker of the Year
Sponsored by Charles Stanley Wealth Managers
Alex Stewart – Cortus Advisory Group
Ryan Brown – Browne Jacobson
Mark Ward – DC Advisory
Josh Bean – BGF
James Painter – Palatine
Jacob Leone – LDC
Greg Holmes – Palatine
Tom Eatough – KBS Corporate
James Rosthorn – Maven Capital Partners
Dealmaker of the Year
Sponsored by Axon Moore
Michael Loudon – Clearwater International
Stewart Haworth – OakNorth
Andrew Feeke – MHA Moore and Smalley
John Clarke – LDC
Dom Orsini – Houihan Lokey
Claire Alvarez – Foresight
Neil Inskip – BGF
Beth Houghton – Palatine
Rob Jones – DC Advisory
David Kendrick – UHY Hacker Young
