The M&A landscape has been rocked in recent years in an unprecedented way, but 2022 brought about a certain hopefulness for the future and desire for new opportunities. Harbourside Corporate Finance experienced one of its busiest periods ever with a range of deals across a broad variety of sectors.
In April we provided valuation, tax and structuring advice in relation to the management buy out of a £13m roofing contracting business. This facilitated the exit of the founding shareholder.
In June we provided extensive transaction support services to leading pet product retailer Jollyes Group on its acquisition of Midlands-based Penparc Pet Centre Group, to accelerate its growth. Through this transaction Jollyes acquired Penparc’s five stores in Cannock, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, West Bromwich and Telford.
In August we advised Magnaghi Aeronautica Group on its acquisition of Gloucestershire-based Five Valleys Aerospace Ltd, a specialist in manufacturing components and supplier of surface treatments for the aerospace industry.
Magnaghi Aeronautica, which is headquartered in Naples, Italy, has a strong presence in Brazil and the United States thanks to its well-established offices. The acquisition of Five Valleys Aerospace Ltd strengthens its stake in the European market, as well as expanding its global presence.
In September we provided a range of transaction and advisory services to help Cambridgeshire-based Knowles Transport acquire a 100 per cent holding in 3PL warehousing and distribution provider Master Logistical.
Based in Ely, Masters offers services across Cambridgeshire and East Anglia and is a member of the Palletline freight distribution network.
The acquisition of Masters, comes at a period of significant growth for Knowles Transport. Founded in 1932, and now in its third generation of family leadership, Knowles Transport has established itself as a high-performing third-party logistics specialist within the UK.
In October, we also advised on the acquisition of Spherics, a carbon accounting solution business, by accounting giant, Sage.
Spherics automates the process of calculating emissions by ingesting data from a customer’s accounting software and matching transactions to emission factors to create an initial estimate of their carbon footprint.
The software then guides the customer to refine this estimate by submitting further data for a more accurate calculation – supporting SMBs on their journey to net zero.
Spherics also helps SMBs apply carbon emission factors to procurement categories (such as delivery, accommodation, electricity, and travel) to estimate the associated carbon footprint of a transaction.
Headquartered in Bristol, Spherics will continue to be available as a market solution that integrates with Sage and other accounting software providers in the UK.
In November, we advised on the acquisition of MediaStar Systems, formerly known as Cabletime Limited by Uniquest.
Founded in 1984 and based in Newbury, MediaStar Systems develops IPTV and digital signage software and hardware solutions.
Its technology allows channel partners to implement and install professional AV solutions quickly and securely for end-user customers.
Finally, in December we advised the founder of expense management platform Expense Once on the sale of their corporate vehicle to The Payroll Software and Services Group (PSSG).
Founded in 2017, Expense Once leverages technology that best solves the challenges for finance teams and greatly enhances distributed working environments and staff engagement.
The PSSG is backed by Tenzing Private Equity, and has made a number of recent strategic acquisitions to expand and enhance its product offering.
Susannah Adams, Managing Partner at Harbourside Corporate Finance, said: “Following the launch of Harbourside just over a year ago, we have seen phenomenal growth and worked on a wide range of deals of various scale.
“We are proud of what we have managed to achieve, particularly the deals that were completed in the final quarter of 2022. We are now looking forward to what the year ahead might hold for us.”
To find out more about Harbourside Corporate Finance and how we can help you secure the best possible deal, please contact us.
