BCMS Corporate has taken the world top spot in SME M&A league tables for the first time in its 25-year history, according to new figures from Bureau van Dijk released this week.
The sell-side-only SME adviser emerged in pole position for completed transactions after a highly-successful year in the sub-£100 million deal market.
BCMS pointed to deals such as the £9.4m (US$14.3m) sale of car-seat cover manufacturer ALC Group of South Africa – whose primary customer is BMW – to Exco Technologies of Canada, alongside the £5m ($7.5m) sale of US streetlight contractor Esco Energy Services to New York-based LED lighting specialist Forcefield Energy Inc.
In the UK, high-profile completions included UK online auction website Preloved.co.uk, which was acquired by The Hut Group. These transactions highlight the quality of SME businesses brought to market by BCMS.
Founding director David Rebbettes said: “These rankings confirm what we have known at BCMS for some time – that our experienced deal teams across the world lead the way in delivering successful results for our clients, many of whom, like me, are owner-managers and entrepreneurs at heart.
“When you consider that around a third of our completions have been cross-border deals – with the added complexity that brings to transactions – it’s even more remarkable that a family-owned firm from Hampshire has been able to top the M&A rankings against some of the biggest names in the financial services sector.”
In addition to its leading global position, BCMS also ranks as number one sell-side adviser by volume in key territories including UK, Europe and Africa under the same search criteria.
Rebbettes added: “Whether the client is from London, Lithuania or California, we’re now seeing far more multinationals acquiring at our end of the deal market, so having a professional sell-side adviser is critical for business owners looking to sell their company for maximum value.”
The top 10 global sell-side advisers as reported by Zephyr* are as follows:
| 2014 Ranking | Adviser name |
| 1 | BCMS Corporate |
| 2 | Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin |
| 3 | KPMG Corporate Finance |
| 4 | PwC - Corporate Finance |
| 5 | JP Morgan |
| 6 | Credit Suisse |
| 7 | EY |
| 8 | Goldman Sachs Group Inc |
| 9 | Bank of America Corporation |
| 10 | Morgan Stanley |
* The above ranking is based on global completed deals by volume from January 1 to December 31, 2014, and includes trade acquisitions, MBOs and MBIs. The ranking refers exclusively to sell-side advisers of privately-owned companies.
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