Corporate Financier of the Year

Clearwater

We continue into 2024 with a number of PE deal completions and a healthy pipeline across M&A and debt for the remainder of the year. PE continues to be a critical element of our business, and a key focus area for growth, both in the UK and internationally. 

During the qualifying period, we completed 42 deals involving PE with an accumulative deal value of more than €2.3bn in the UK. Our UK team worked with 38 PE firms during the qualifying period on a range of transactions including sell-side, buy-side and debt advisory. 

We are an award-winning team across our regions, with our teams collecting the Team of the Year trophy across the Insider Dealmakers and Business Desk Rainmaker awards during 2023 and 2024. Our business also received the Corporate Finance Team of the Year award at the Real Deals Private Equity Awards 2024. 

Some of our standout private equity transactions during the qualifying period include: 

• Advising ECI Partners on its investment in TAG; 
• Advising Glory Global on its acquisition of Flooid, from PE group Inflexion; 
• Advising on the sale of TrustedHousesitters to Mayfair Equity Partners; 
• Advising LDC-backed iamproperty on its acquisition of VTUK.

Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey has continued to expand significantly in the year to June 2024, now counting more than 380 Corporate Finance staff across Europe and solidifying its position as pre-eminent advisor to Mid-Market PE.

In this timeframe the firm advised on 47 sellside, buyside, financing transactions invested in by private equity (excluding PE owned assets sold to trade parties). The total value, excluding PE assets sold to trade was $15.8bn.

Initiatives during this time included:

• Enhanced primary, secondary, direct and GP advisory services via the acquisition of market leading placement agent Triago, completed post regulatory approval
• Addition of senior bankers in Capital Markets and FIG across Europe
• Increased focus on key targets / metrics such as ‘round trips’ (repeat mandates), average deal value in key sub-sectors
• Increased focus on coverage of Infrastructure funds to mirror markets growing interest

Underpinning this is HL’s:

• Long term trusted partnership approach
• Unrivalled deep sector focus, with global P&Ls run along sector, not geographical lines
• ‘Bulge bracket’ global reach complemented by ‘boutique’ tailored service, independence and niche focus• Sponsor coverage in the firm’s DNA

Lincoln International

Lincoln International is a leading global investment bank specialising in mergers and acquisitions advisory, private funds and capital markets advisory, and valuations and fairness opinions. A tightly integrated team of more than 1,000 professionals in over 20 offices across 15 countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe, Lincoln has strong local knowledge and contacts in key global economies. The firm provides clients with senior-level involvement, coupled with in-depth industry insights. As a result, Lincoln is one of the most active private capital advisors, completing over 300 transactions in 2023, of which over 45% were sell-side advisory and over 45% were cross-border. 

Lincoln’s transaction track record also demonstrates its ability to deliver impressive outcomes, being one of the most active global advisors in the private capital markets. Lincoln has been consistently ranked by Mergermarket as the number one mid-market sell-side advisor to private equity globally, demonstrating scale and reach with the investing community. By developing industry experts across all geographies, Lincoln serves its global client base and delivers strong results. The Lincoln team has unmatched corporate relationships and extensive private equity and family office connections, which it leverages to benefit clients.

Raymond James European Investment Banking

Raymond James adopts an industry-centric approach, only working on deals that align with the team’s sector expertise. It boasts several market-leading sector practices across multiple industries including technology & services (IT services and software), consumer & retail (beauty & personal care), and financial services (fintech). To ensure the best client experience, each of the Raymond James sector teams provide hands-on coverage of the private equity space. They also effectively provide public, private, and sponsor-backed clients with sell-side and buy-side advice, as well as other strategic advisory initiatives. 

Despite market conditions and an M&A slowdown, the last 12 months have remained positive for Raymond James, as the team advised on increasingly larger transactions, with average UK sell-side deal size up materially from June 23-24. 

Raymond James is an industry leader with comprehensive resources and a cross-border model that focuses on key sectors rather than geographical location. Senior bankers have a deep understanding of these nuances, allowing the team to flawlessly execute the private equity deals it advises on. With 90% of transactions involving at least one private markets player (buyer or seller), the team can provide best-in-class bespoke advisory solutions. Similarly, to equip its private equity clients with the most effective solutions possible, Raymond James’ Private Capital Advisory team also provide fund placement and secondaries products.

Rothschild & Co

Rothschild & Co is consistently the UK and Europe’s leading advisory bank for corporate finance. 

We ranked 1st by number of announced (164) and completed (161) deals across Europe. For announced, we advised on 36% more deals than Houlihan Lokey (105), the closest adviser. For completed deals, we significantly outperformed our competitors, advising on more than three times the number of deals than the most active bulge bracket, JP Morgan (55). 

We strengthened our position as the UK’s most active corporate finance adviser. 1st by number for announced deals (44), advising on 7% more deals than the nearest adviser Houlihan Lokey (41). 1st by value for completed deals, totalling US$10.3bn, this was 3% more than Morgan Stanley, the most active bulge bracket with (US$9.9bn). 

In the UK we were the leading buy-side and sell-side adviser to Private Equity clients. 1st by number for completed sell-side deals, advising on 20 deals, totalling US$6.9bn. 1st by number of completed buy-side deals, advising on 30 deals, totalling US$4.5bn. 

Our coverage remains unrivalled – we advised 70 PEH on UK transactions, with a 75% level of repeat business. For one PE firm, we advised on our 50th transaction in 22 years.

Voting Closed

To find out who won, book a table at the Mergermarket British Private Equity Awards on 01 October 2024, by contacting Chris Coe.