Debt Adviser of the Year

BDO 

2022/23 was a breakthrough 12-month period for BDO Debt Advisory as our focus on private equity sponsors in the UK mid-market paid dividends. We supported seven different sponsors with eight new-money deals with a combined value of c.£400m and committed debt facilities of £220m.We completed deals for the first time with five new sponsors, supporting Bowmark, Phoenix, Apiary, Copper Street Capital and Fordhouse, won repeat work from longer established sponsor relationships such as Sovereign and QPE and completed a flurry of new deals in a challenging and uncertain macro environment, including six deal completions in a seven-week period. Businesses supported include IT managed service investments Xperience (Bowmark), and Zenzero (Fordhouse), IFA businesses Radiant (Apiary) and One Four Nine (Copper St Capital), and tech specialists Logiq (Phoenix) and Yay (QPE), plus two deals with Sovereign Capital.The greatest demand came from PE clients seeking to de-risk buy and build strategies, a specialism BDO developed for the lower mid-market allowing smaller companies to raise debt incorporating permitted re-leveraging and auto-covenant resets. We also delivered complex larger refinances. In an increasingly competitive market, we are proud that sponsors are choosing us as their trusted debt adviser, and we are winning market share.

Clearwater 

During the qualifying period the European Debt Advisory (DA) team completed a total of 58 transactions, with a combined deal value of over €6bn. Over half these deals involved UK PE across a range of sectors, transaction size and funders.

During the FY 21/22, Clearwater’s European DA team had an outstanding year, increasing the value of funds sourced by 139%. Following aggressive expansion, the team is now the second largest independent DA business in Europe, and compromises of nine Partners and over 40 professionals. During 2022, Richard Clark and Simon Chambers, who have worked together since 2010, joined the team as partners based in London, having previously led the DA team at GCA Altium.

The team have been involved in multiple transactions during the timeframe, including OCU Group, Littlefish and BCN, working alongside the M&A team and assisting in running a smooth and competitive process.

Some standalone DA deals include advising:

• Tenzing on its sale of CitNOW Group to Livingbridge
• Waterland on raising debt facilities to support its investment in Markettiers4DC
• Mayfair on raising debt facilities to support the investment in Jonckers
• Tier 1 Asset Management on its refinancing to support growth
• Flint Global on its refinancing

Deloitte

The last twelve months has seen the toughest market since the global financial crisis for UK borrowers. Rising base rates and inflation, more competition for private capital as the liquid markets remain unpredictable, coupled with record deployment in the previous twelve months, has created a higher bar for credit deployment from both banks and funds, putting pressure on debt capacity, serviceability and access to liquidity for UK borrowers.

Against this backdrop, we’ve redefined our entire business model. We’ve continued to facilitate M&A activity, recapitalisations and refinancings through a combination of pre-funding value creation, innovative financing structures and leveraging our global reach and access to an increasing number of capital providers, but we’ve also gone so much further.

With opportunities to deploy scarce, and the cost of capital increasingly expensive, we have been working with sponsors to optimise the role of leverage across the investment life cycle. This includes the use of Net Asset Value (“NAV”) facilities and subscription lines, subordinated debt instruments including Holdco PIK & preferred equity, as well as minimising downside risk through innovative and cost-effective hedging strategies post execution.

With over 100 professionals in the UK and a global network of over 250 professionals, we have supported over sixty sponsors during the judging period, raising well over £10bn of new capital. Everything has changed - starting with us!

FRP Corporate Finance

Within the judging period, the FRP Corporate Finance team completed 28 debt advisory transactions with an aggregate deal value of over £754 million. Working closely with investors looking to fund acquisitions, raise working capital facilities or re-finance existing facilities, the team have raised over £547 million in credit facilities across a range of financing structures, predominantly focused on leveraged buy-outs, tech financing capabilities, as well as asset based lending. A number of these deals also have incremental facilities in place to facilitate growth via acquisition and investment over the next three years. 82% of the transactions involved raising capital to finance PE transactions, and had a total debt value of over half a million, a total aggregate deal value of over £655 million, and an average deal value of £30 million.

The FRP Corporate Finance debt team have made many notable Private Equity deals possible by guiding clients through the end-to-end fund-raising process across a wide range of sectors –including presenting to lenders, deal structuring, securing credit approvals, negotiation of terms and handling the intricacies of banking legal documentation. The team have built an extensive network of investor contacts and knowledge of investment preferences – this intel enables clients seeking finance to be connect with the most suitable investors, which makes for a smooth transaction and trusted ongoing relationship.

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 Debt Advisory Group is a core part of the organisation, with 10+ dedicated bankers in the UK and 60+ professionals globally; we provide advice across all key geographies and sectors. Lincoln’s debt advisory professionals work with financial and corporate clients providing full-service provision throughout the investment lifecycle; buyside, growth, acquisition and sell-side. The team’s deep lender relationships with 400+ sources of capital ensures the best outcomes for clients across all structures including bank, fund, ABL, subordinated and flexible capital. Despite challenging markets, the group has been active in 2023 – with Lincoln’s approach of senior-led deal teams throughout capital raise engagement results in 20+ closed transactions year to date in Europe. The group also works closely with our sector M&A teams to provide a rounded service offering to clients.

In addition to a strong UK presence, Lincoln’s debt advisory colleagues based in Europe and the US mean the group provides advice on cross border capital raises, staffing global deal teams where appropriate, sourcing the very best advice for clients.