Voting Closed

To find out who won, book a table at the British Private Equity Party Awards 2025 on Tuesday, 30 September at The Brewrey, London

Arma Partners

Arma Partners delivered a standout performance in a year marked by macroeconomic uncertainty and muted M&A volumes, reinforcing its position as the leading advisor to the Digital Economy. The firm generated record revenues of over €140 million and advised on more than €23 billion of deal value in the final quarter alone. Over the period, Arma closed 30+ transactions, including 10 valued above €1 billion—underscoring its sector depth, global reach and consistent execution.

The Software practice remained a clear market leader, advising on 22 transactions worth over €45 billion. Highlights included the €15 billion investment in IFS by Hg, ADIA and CPP; Permira’s €5.5 billion exit from P&I; EQT’s €1.9 billion acquisition of AMCS; the €3.9 billion sale of Aareon to TPG and CDPQ; and the sale of Anaqua to Nordic Capital. Arma also advised on Apax’s acquisition of Zellis, General Atlantic’s investment in Kyriba, and GIC and Tethys Invest’s investment in Septeo.

The firm continued to scale its platform, adding senior talent in Fintech and Tech-Enabled Services, and appointing two new Partners. With 120 professionals dedicated to the Digital Economy, Arma remains one of the few firms with a long-term, consistent commitment to European tech. In a period where many pulled back, Arma continued to deliver high-impact, cross-border outcomes for founders, investors and corporates alike.

Clearwater

The end of FY25 marked a milestone in our journey, an exceptional year of record-breaking fees and industry recognition. In the UK, we delivered over £52m in fees, completing 70+ M&A and debt advisory deals with a combined value exceeding £6bn.

This performance continued across the qualifying period for these awards, where we advised on 56 UK PE transactions (up from 42 the previous year), with a total deal value of £4.2bn. Our Debt team advised on 33 PE deals, with a combined value of £2.4bn.

Our PE expertise extends across our other service lines. During the period, we supported and advised on 32 deals with ESG health checks, 14 of which included PE clients.

Whilst our Modelling and Data Analytics team worked on c.50 mandates, c.20 of which were focused on data analytics requirements. The Modelling team also worked with over ten different PE houses during the qualifying period.

Houlihan Lokey

Houlihan Lokey (‘HL’) has continued to expand significantly in the year to June 2025, 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 UK team advised on 57 sellside, buyside and financing transactions for private equity (excluding trade owned assets), an increase of 6% compared to the same period last year. The total value of assets sold for PE during this period was $18.9bn.

Additionally, the HL team advised on 41 sellside, buyside and financing transactions for private equity where the target company geography is the UK, an increase of 21% compared to the same period last year. The total value of assets sold during this period was $14.1bn.

Initiatives during this time included:

• Addition of senior bankers in Business Services and Capital Solutions, further strengthening the firm’s European capabilities
• Increased focus on key targets / metrics such as ‘round trips’ (repeat mandates), average deal value in key sub-sectors
• Enhanced coverage capabilities in the insurance and wealth management sectors through the acquisition of Waller Helms and Park Sutton Advisors, doubling the size of the Financial Services Group
• Increased focus on coverage of Infrastructure funds to mirror the market's
  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 – having grown to 29 senior team members globally, 8 in Europe of whom 4 are UK based. The operating model provides unrivalled access to 1300+ PE funds, 300+ credit funds and 70+ Family Offices

Raymond James

Between July 2024 and June 2025, ~80% of Raymond James’ European transactions involved at least one sponsor highlighting the firm’s ability to provide best-in-class, bespoke advisory solutions. During this period, the firm delivered tailored advice on several notable transactions including the sale of IWSR, a portfolio company of Bowmark Capital, to WGSN. Raymond James also advised Bowmark Capital on the purchase of IWSR in 2021, underscoring Raymond James’ commitment to building lasting client relationships and delivering results at every stage.

Raymond James’ cross-border model prioritises deep sector expertise over geography, enabling it to advise on complex, international deals with precision. The firm maintains standout practices in technology & services (IT services, software), consumer & retail (beauty and personal care), and financial services (fintech). Over the past year, Raymond James has continued to invest in these areas through senior hires in both the IT and consumer space, further strengthening the firm’s sector-led approach.

Despite market headwinds, the team’s hands-on approach and unwavering focus on client service has allowed Raymond James to continue to deliver strong results on several private equity transactions of impressive size and significance in the last year. Maintaining a one size does not fit all approach, the team effectively provides public, private, and sponsor-backed clients with sellside and buy-side advice, as well as other strategic advisory initiatives. 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. The recent opening of its Paris office reflects Raymond James’ continued investment in its pan-European footprint, positioning the team for even greater success in key constituencies.
With a client-first mindset, deep specialization, and growing momentum, Raymond James continues to distinguish itself as a trusted partner to private equity sponsors across the mid-market.

Rothschild

Rothschild & Co maintains its #1 position as the UK’s most active advisory bank for corporate finance. We ranked 1st by number of announced and completed deals, this is the second consecutive year we advised on more deals than our peers.

• We ranked 1st by number of announced with 60 deals and 1st by number of completed 52 deals across UK.
• We advised on 43% announced and 40% completed more deals than the most active bulge bracket, Goldman Sachs (with 42 announced and 37 completed deals)
• We advised on 39% announced and 26% completed more deals than the most active independent, Houlihan Lokey (with 39 announced and 41 completed deals)
• Our 60 private equity deals during the judging period was 13% more deals than the previous awards period with 53 deals
• We were the leading buy-side and sell-side adviser to Private Equity clients. Ranked 1st by number for announced sell-side deals against our competitors, advising on 57 deals, totalling US$20.5bn. 1st by number of announced buy-side deals against our peers, advising on 16 deals, totalling US$8.1bn.
• Our commitment to exceptional client service and industry-leading expertise is at the heart of what we do, a testament to this is our longstanding relationship with CVC, advising on 43 deals across 22 years.
• Our newly formed Global Markets Solutions (GMS) platform, which integrates our firm’s research arm—now rebranded as Rothschild & Co Redburn— delivers seamless, research-led distribution and execution across both public and private markets. This new platform supported the successful c.5.6% secondary share sale in The Gym Group, acting as sole bookrunner. We also supported the IPO of CVC, acting both as financial
  advisers and underwriters.
• 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. Our global scale allows us to connect PE with the full range of international buyers.
• We advised on 10 transactions for corporates opposite PE, and 28 independent DCM/ECM financing assignments for PE.
• 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.

Voting Closed

To find out who won, book a table at the British Private Equity Party Awards 2025 on Tuesday, 30 September at The Brewrey, London