Corporate Financier of the Year

Alantra

Alantra completed 32 deals worth £2.2bn. PE were involved in 21 of these.
We use our full-service offering to work with founder-entrepreneurs, mid-market management
teams and PE across the investment lifecycle and deal size spectrum to create and realise value.
Activity includes:

• Introducing PE to primary buy-out opportunities: introducing Soho Square to xDesign and Perwyn to Datatonic
• Leveraging sector expertise and relationships to support business owners in partnering with PE: advising JMAN, Joblogic and TradingHub on investments from Baird Capital, Axiom Equity, Summit Partners respectively
• Using sector expertise and superior process execution to differentiate PE in competitive auctions: supporting Bowmark, MML and Graphite on investments in Littlefish, MIcompany and Digital Space respectively
• Enabling investment capital transactions as alternatives to strategic sales, such as Bridges’ investment in Evora Global
• Offering a menu approach to buy-side services: PE can select one, some or all of M&A execution, sector mapping, exit planning, debt advisory, financial modelling and process tactics, demonstrated by Graphite’s investment in Digital Space
• Using debt advisory expertise: raising debt facilities for Bowmark’s investment in Littlefish and MML’s investment in MIcompany
• Using PE to create long-term value: advising LDC on an additional investment in FSP from CBPE.

Clearwater

During FY 21/22, Clearwater International completed 161 transactions across 17 offices of which 97
deals involved private equity (PE).
During the qualifying period, Clearwater completed 43 PE deals involving UK targets with an
accumulative deal value of more than €2.9bn. The UK team worked with 34 different PE firms during
the period on a range of transactions including sell-side, buy-side, MBOs and debt advisory.
Clearwater completed transactions across the whole spectrum of UK PE, including the following
selected deals:

• Adviser to the shareholders of OCU Group on its sale to Triton Partners
• Adviser to the shareholder of LDC on the sale of Littlefish to Bowmark Capital
• Adviser to Palatine on the sale of CTS Group to Oakley Capital
• Adviser to the shareholders of BCN including Beech Tree on the sale of the business to ECI Partners
• Adviser to Synova on its investment in Learnlight
• Adviser to Tenzing on its sale of CitNOW Group to Livingbridge

Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey (‘HL’) has continued to expand significantly in the year to June 2023, now counting
more than 384 staff across Europe and solidifying its position as pre-eminent advisor to Mid-Market
PE.

In this timeframe the firm advised on 60 sellside, buyside and financing transactions invested in by
private equity (68 inclusive of PE owned assets sold to trade parties), up by 40% YoY.

Combined deal value was $24.8bn (split $18.5bn M&A sell/buysides, $6.3bn financing). Not only was
this a material increase in absolute total deal value YoY (+28%), but average overall deal value
increased by 10%+.

Initiatives during this time included:

• Enhanced TMT / Digital Infrastructure coverage via acquisition of Oakley Advisory
• Addition of senior bankers in Healthcare and Private Placement product expertise
• Increased focus on key targets / metrics such as ‘round trips’ (repeat mandates), average deal value in key sub-sectors

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 – having grown to 27 senior team members globally, 10 in Europe of which 5 in UK

Lincoln International

Lincoln International is a leading investment banking advisory firm, working with business owners and senior executives of private equity firms as well as privately held companies around the world. Established 25 years ago, Lincoln employs 900+ professionals across 20+ offices and is ranked #1 sellside advisor to private equity globally. Lincoln’s entrepreneurial mindset sees continued growth across its platform in 2023, with a new strategic partnership with Miles Advisory Partners to expand its global footprint into Australia. Lincoln also grew its already strong sector expertise through establishing a Financial Institutions group based in London led by two new MD’s in 2022. As well as a focus on relationships with clients, Lincoln fosters a culture of collaboration, empowered by open communication and entrepreneurialism amongst its people. Opportunities for Lincoln’s people to reach their potential is a core tenant of our culture with multiple senior promotions in 2023 including one new internal MD appointment in Healthcare and a Director in Debt Advisory.

Our M&A group in the UK consists of 60+ professionals providing advisory services to clients across all core sectors, working closely with debt advisory and valuations colleagues to provide an integrated approach to clients in order to achieve the best outcome on their behalf.

Rothschild & Co 

We ranked 1st by number of completed deals on UK PE M&A, advising on double the number of
deals than the nearest competitor JP Morgan. Our coverage remains unrivalled - we advised 36 PEHs on UK transactions, with a high level of repeat business - for one PE we advised on our 51st transaction in 19 years.

We were impressive in our breadth of transactions, involving assets in almost every sector and across a range of values, with midmarket leadership, and some of the largest UK deals – 21 <€500m and 12 €1bn+. Our global scale allows us to connect PE with the full range of international buyers.

We advised on 17 sell-side and 13 buy-side for PE clients, 10 transactions for corporates opposite PE, and 13 independent DCM/ECM financing assignments for PE.

In Investor Advisory, we developed a leading ESG capability advising clients on a dedicated basis and providing the expertise to integrate ESG considerations into the advice we provide across our full product range.

Our Investor Marketing team were significantly active in providing market advice and investor engagement services, including analysis of investor behaviour, market perception studies, and equity marketing support.