Deals Awards: Finalists confirmed
Judges have selected the finalists for the Thames Valley and Solent Deals Awards, which are presented at a gala dinner this month.
A total of eight deals are in contention for Deal of the Year – five in the under-£25 million category and three in the over-£25m category. Six people are in contention for Dealmaker of the Year.
Entries for this year’s competition closed on March 5, and the qualifying period for nominations was deal activity between January 1, 2009 and February 28, 2010.
The finalists are:
Bank of the Year – sponsored by Clarke Willmott
- HSBC
- Lloyds TSB
- The Royal Bank of Scotland
Banker of the Year – sponsored by Paris Smith
- Nigel Gibson, Lloyds TSB
- Mark Frettingham, HSBC
- Richard Knight, Co-operative Bank
VC Firm of the Year – sponsored by RBS
- Maven Capital
- LDC
- Zeus Private Equity
Corporate Finance Team – sponsored by HSBC
- Grant Thornton
- HMT Corporate Finance
- PricewaterhouseCoopers
Corporate Finance Adviser – sponsored by HSBC
- Peter Barrand, HMT Corporate Finance
- Simon Davies, Grant Thornton
- Duncan Lamb, Grant Thornton
Law Firm – sponsored by Grant Thornton
- Blake Lapthorn
- Pitmans
- Shoosmiths
Management Team – sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Chemring Group management
- Micro Focus plc management
- PIMS Group management
The winners of all the categories above will be announced on the night. The categories below will be voted on by the 400 guests at the dinner, to be held at Oakley Hall, Oakley, near Basingstoke, on Thursday April 22.
The finalists are:
Dealmaker (under £25m deal value) – sponsored by Pitmans
- Peter Barrand, HMT Corporate Finance
- Mark Ward, RBS
- Duncan Lamb, Grant Thornton
Dealmaker (over £25m deal value) – sponsored by Barclays
- Simon Davies, Grant Thornton
- Kevan Leggett, LDC
- Stewart Lambert, James Cowper
Deal of the Year (over £25m) – sponsored by The Business Magazine
• Snell & Wilcox: £72m merger with Probel
• Microfocus: $173m acquisitions of Borland Software and Compuware
• Chemring Group: $132m acquisition of Hi-Shear Technology Corp plus $100m and $280m refinancing of Chemring
Deal of the Year (under £25m) – sponsored by The Business Magazine
• Modelzone: £9.5m MBO
• Wallingford Software: Sale to MWH Inc (undisclosed value)
• Westway Cooling: £8.5m MBO
• Hot Wheels International & Circle Bikes: Disposal to Dorel Inc (confidential value)
• One Bill Telecom: Acquisition by XLN Telecom (undisclosed value)
Judges considered 294 separate nominations before making their choices. All deals considered eligible were relevant to the Thames Valley or S olent/South Central areas – with either the target, acquirer, funder, law firm or adviser located in this region.
The dinner at Oakley Hall, which will be compered by Chris Barrie, star of television series Red Dwarf, the Brittas Empire and Britain’s Greatest Machines, is a sell-out with up to 400 professionals gathering for the black-tie event.
Prior to the event, full details on the finalist deals and dealmaker contenders will be emailed out to guests – to assist in their voting on the night.
