Crowe corporate finance team celebrates £100m in deals

The Corporate Finance team in the Midlands office of national audit, tax, advisory and risk firm Crowe is celebrating hitting £100 million in deal value in the past 12 months.

A quartet of deals in August saw Crowe smash through £100 million, with the Corporate Finance team led by Partner Andy Kay advising on the sales of four transactions including Protech, Walsall Pressings, DRB Engineering and a major service office sector sale to a private investor.

Andy Kay said: “Despite economic uncertainty and the Brexit factor – or perhaps because of it – astute businesses are looking for strategic acquisitions.

“They see uncertain times as good times for building group business.

“In many sectors there are willing sellers. In some cases businesses are seeking the safe haven of a larger parent company.

“But whatever the reasoning, clearly confidence is high in the West Midlands and Crowe is actively helping companies to grow across all market sectors.”

The deals completed include Protech, the Walsall-based software supplier, which was acquired by the ClearCourse Partnership, and Walsall Pressings and sister company D.R.B Engineering (Walpres) which were purchased by Ricor Global.

Kay added: “Crowe is proud to be the advisor of choice for many Midlands companies and we are working with businesses ranging from fast growth start-ups to long standing historic business names seeking consolidation or to secure succession.”

Earlier in the year, Crowe’s Midlands Corporate Finance team advised on two deals for fast expanding Northampton-based Pet Cremation Services which acquired Norfolk Pet Crematorium and Essex Pet Crematorium, taking the number of its sites in the UK to 15.

Further deals in the past 12 months include the sale of Herefordshire agri-business Micron Sprayers to Spanish company Goizper, providing transaction support for Summa NV’s acquisition of Cadcam Technology, and transaction support for a number of acquisitions by Midcounties Co-operative.

Kay said: “Our long standing client relationships are creating opportunities for both buyers and sellers in the marketplace, and the second half of 2019 is looking equally busy for those able to move quickly and make strategic and opportunistic acquisitions.”