Billions of pounds have changed hands in major deals involving firms based in Manchester, Liverpool and further afield over the past few weeks.
RSK, Peak and Leonard Curtis are among the North West businesses to have been involved in big investment announcements and acquisitions.
Here, BusinessLive rounds up the deals from across the North West that we feel you shouldn't have missed.
Do you have a deal you want featured in our roundup? Please email tom.houghton@reachplc.com
Leonard Curtis
A Liverpool-based investment group has led the backing of Manchester-headquartered business solutions group Leonard Curtis which has valued the company at £40m.
Arete, in partnership with Svella, has invested £15m into the professional services firm.
With 239 employees working across its 18 offices in the 海角视频 and the Channel Islands, the Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group is the largest privately-owned professional services provider of corporate restructuring and insolvency in the 海角视频 and in the last financial year generated revenues of £25m and an EBITDA of £6m.
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The business was founded in 1995 and offers a range of financial solutions to SMEs and business owners, including corporate restructuring and insolvency, legal services via LC Legal and finance raising via Reach Commercial Finance.
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Peak
A Manchester-based artificial intelligence (AI) start-up is in line to receive about $50m from the world's largest technology investor.
SoftBank's Vision Fund II is reported to have agreed to acquire a stake in Peak, which counts PepsiCo and the fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing among its clients.
When contacted by BusinessLive, a representative of Peak said the company would be issuing a statement on September 1 and would not comment further at this time for legal reasons.
The news comes after Peak announced in February it was to create 130 jobs after it raised $21m through a Series B funding round led by London-based venture capital firm Oxx, with participation from MMC Ventures and Praetura Ventures and new investor Arete.
Frenkel Topping
Manchester-headquartered specialist financial services group Frenkel Topping has announced a joint venture (JV) with a law firm which dates back to 1890.
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The listed company has signed a 50:50 JV between its independent financial advice division and Pattinson Brewer, taking its joint ventures to five in the personal injury and clinical negligence sector.
Frenkel Topping Ltd and Pattinson Brewer will provide services jointly under the trading name Pattinson & Brewer Financial Services with the aim of delivering a 'consistently caring' legal and financial advice service to clients after injury.
Richard Fraser, CEO of Frenkel Topping, added: "As part of our strategy to grow our core business, Frenkel Topping Limited, we have been aiming to deepen and strengthen relationships with partners who share our values."
In a separate move, Frenkel Topping also announced recently that it had acquired a legal costs consultancy, which has bases in Derbyshire and Newcastle upon Tyne, for almost £1.5m.
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Vital Human Resources
A Manchester-based staffing and recruiting firm has been awarded a £150m contract to provide Network Rail labour covering a range of strategic and operational roles over the next five years.
Vital Human Resources, part of the Morson Group, has been awarded the huge contract that will run until 2026, with a possible extension until 2029.
The firm said it will supply 100% of frontline labour for the East Coast Mainline, North East, East Midlands and Wales.
Viscgo
A medical device company based in Manchester Science Park has completed a £315,000 investment round.
Viscgo has completed the funding drive thanks to a £50,000 investment from North West early-stage investor, GC Angels as well as a predominantly North West cohort of institutional and private investors including the GM&C Life Sciences Fund, managed by Catapult Ventures, and Deepbridge Capital.
Founded by speech and language therapist Dr Elizabeth Boaden and new product development and engineering specialist Steven Bookbinder, Viscgo’s products improve the management of dysphagia, or swallowing difficulties, for patients, carers, clinicians and dysphagia practitioners.
With the investment round, Viscgo is seeking to establish its reach, enabling it to support a growing clientele of dysphagia patients and carers.
Oakwood Corporate Services
Altrincham-based professional services advisory firm Oakwood Corporate Services has moved to employee ownership.
Founded in 2009 by Michael Harris and Muriel Thorne, the firm now has 31 employees and is a provider of company secretarial, company formation and compliance services.
The pair, who both left Addleshaw Goddard to set up Oakwood, will remain active in the business following the transfer of a majority shareholding to an employee trust.
They will be joined on the board of directors by Lauren Cavanagh, who joined Oakwood from DLA Piper in 2019.
Mr Harris said: “Muriel and I have created ways of working and a culture that our colleagues and clients really appreciate.
"We wanted to protect the values and ethos of the business, which have helped us grow so successfully. In setting up an employee ownership trust, we are recognising the loyalty, dedication and sheer hard work of our team.”
Tactus Group
A Cheshire-based consumer technology business has secured a £40m investment to boost its plans to become a globally recognised gaming and computing group.
Warrington firm Tactus Holdings Ltd has received the funding from Chrysalis Investments which will mean accelerating its international buy-and-build strategy - with several global acquisitions already in the pipeline.
The investment marks the company’s largest funding round to date and follows a £12.5m funding round led by Liverpool-based multi-family investment office Arete Capital Partners in April 2021. That enabled the firm to acquire Bradford-based e-commerce PC gaming specialist CCL Computers.
Babble
A communications, contact centre and cyber services provider has made a double acquisition which expands its reach further across the North West and South Coast.
London-headquartered Babble has snapped up Concert (Concert Networks Limited) and 5 Rings (5 Rings Telecom Ltd and 5 Rings IT Ltd) for undisclosed amounts.
The deals - which are the fifth and sixth completed by Babble in 2021 – extend the tech business’s 海角视频-wide footprint.
Concert is located in Winsford, Cheshire, while 5 Rings has bases in West Sussex, Littlehampton and St Albans.
Napthens
North West law firm Napthens has advised on transactions valued collectively at £210m in the first half of 2021, already eclipsing its total for the full 2020 year.
Altogether, its corporate team advised on 24 transactions that completed in the period January – June 2021, compared to 32 transactions across the whole of 2020 and 28 transactions in 2019.
Landmark disclosable deals include the acquisition of vaping manufacturer and retailer Vapouriz by Darwen-based e-liquid manufacturer Flavour Warehouse, disposal of national roofing merchant Rinus Roofing Supplies to Cupa Group, and disposal of Fylde Coast-located Builders Supplies (West Coast) to Huws Gray.
Napthens also advised on a host of regional leisure deals that included disposal of Cumbria-based manufacturer Retreat Homes & Lodges to ABI Group and re-establishment of The Three Fishes pub in Mitton by celebrity chef Nigel Haworth.
Elsewhere, the team advised on specialist maintenance company Restek’s transition to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), with managing director and founder Tim Knight placing the business into the hands of its 14 permanent team members.
H&M Distribution
A Merseyside distribution business has acquired a nearby property and warehousing firm with the support of a £3.5m funding package.
Newton-le-Willows-based H&M Distribution has acquired HBT Properties and Hunt Brothers Warehousing & Distribution - with the funding coming from NatWest and Lombard Asset Finance.
H&M Distribution, a £20m turnover pallet delivery distributor, previously rented its property in Newton-le-Willows from HBT Properties which in turn owns Hunt Brothers Warehousing & Distribution.
CloudCoCo
A Warrington-headquartered IT and communications firm, which works with the likes of Boohoo, Mills & Reeve and King's College London, has announced a new acquisition and raised £2.1m through a share placing.
CloudCoCo, which is listed on AIM, is to snap up Systems Assurance, an IT group comprising a B2B value-added reseller and an automated cloud-based VAR and IT managed service provider.
CloudCoCo has raised £2.1m before expenses through a conditional placing arranged by Allenby Capital of 210,000,000 new ordinary shares.
The placing will fully fund the acquisition of Systems Assurance and will also provide additional working capital to fund integration of the deal and also provide headroom that could be used to fund further moves.
Russell Taylor Group
A Cheshire-based technical recruitment company has secured a £5m funding deal with Investec Capital Solutions.
Russell Taylor Group said the new funding arrangement will deliver the next stage of the firm's business ambitions.
The Neston company, which also owns Recruit Right, NMS Recruit and Perpetual Engineering Partnerships, now wants to grow its combined turnover from £35m to £50m within the next three years.
Browne Jacobson
Browne Jacobson’s North West-based corporate team, led by partner Peter Allen, has advised British farmer-owned dairy co-operative First Milk on its investment into soil carbon measurement company, Agricarbon.
Dundee based start-up business Agricarbon was set up by Scottish farming entrepreneur Stewart Arbuckle, data services entrepreneur and decarbonisation expert Annie Leeson and technology commercialisation expert Alan Strong.
The business aims to support the reduction of CO2 in the agricultural industry through its unique service which helps its global customer base scientifically quantify its soil carbon stock.
First Milk is a British farmer-owned co-operative with a vision to create value for members by delivering long-term dairy prosperity in the form of success, profitability, security and well-being.
Sykes Holiday Cottages
Sykes Holiday Cottages has further bolstered its property portfolio in North Wales by acquiring a regional specialist.
The Chester-based firm has bought Abersoch Quality Homes, adding a further 100 properties to its portfolio of almost 20,000 holiday cottages across the 海角视频, Ireland and New Zealand – 2,400 of which are in North Wales.
Sykes Holiday Cottages said the deal means it can now offer customers an even broader range of properties and availability in the coastal resort of Abersoch.
Texecom
A Lancashire alarm manufacturing business has been sold to its management team for £65m by a global group of life-saving technology companies.
Halma has disposed of Rossendale-headquartered Texecom which has now been backed by private equity firm LDC.
Texecom’s management team will continue to lead the business, which will operate out of its current locations.
Texecom was first acquired by Halma in November 2005 for £26m. At the time its revenue stood at £19.2m but for the financial year to March 31, 2021 it reported audited revenue of £33.3m.
RSK Group
An environmental, engineering and technical services business that owns more than 100 firms has received £1bn of available debt facilities from a US giant.
Global investment manager Ares Management Corporation said on Monday it will be the sole lender for the £1bn loan to Cheshire-headquartered RSK Group, which has acquired dozens of firms in recent months.
According to New York Stock Exchange-listed Ares, the transaction marks the largest private credit-backed sustainability-linked financing to date - and will be used to refinance RSK’s existing credit facilities as well as support its continued organic and inorganic growth plans.
WeDo Invoice Finance
A Greater Manchester-based invoice finance firm has expanded with a double swoop in a multimillion-pound deal.
WeDo Invoice Finance has acquired Colchester-based sister companies Alexanders Discount and Corporate Commercial Collections.
It comes after the Essex firms ran into financial difficulties, with FRP Advisory appointed as administrators in June.
Affordable Wines
Two old school friends have come together to acquire a prominent wine retailer.
Rob Weatherhead and Ben Boothman from Rochdale have completed the purchase of Affordable Wine, and are hoping to combine their respective business experience to grow the firm "significantly".
Mr Boothman is owner of The Lancashire Hospitality Co-operation which owns the Flying Horse Hotel, The Baum and various other venues across Rochdale. He was also Rochdale Business Person of the Year 2019.
CruiseAppy
A travel retail app has merged with a fellow Liverpool-based development and design specialist whose portfolio includes work with the likes of Cruise Britain, Liverpool International Music Festival, the Cavern Club and the NHS.
Travel retail app and website developer CruiseAppy has expanded less than two years after launching by joining forces with leading agency iprogress to form a new travel tech and digital firm, Digital Travel Marketing Group (DTMG).
Launched in 2019, CruiseAppy is a mobile app and video streaming platform which has been working with iprogress to address the "growing need" for a travel app encompassing all elements of a trip into a "one-stop shop" while allowing travel agencies to service and manage the post-pandemic traveller.
Infex Therapeutics
Infex Therapeutics, the Alderley Park-based biotech developing new clinical pipeline of innovative drugs to treat critical priority infectious diseases, has completed an interim funding round to expand its coronavirus therapeutics portfolio.
Supported by existing shareholders Perscitus LLP and the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Life Sciences Fund, managed by Catapult Ventures, as well as individual private shareholders, the £2.1m investment will support Infex Therapeutics through to 2022.
The funding will enable Infex to progress its pipeline of new drugs, including vital work with the Cancer Research 海角视频 Newcastle Drug Discovery Unit, on a novel therapy designed to treat SARS-CoV-2 along with future variants and a broad spectrum of coronaviruses.
Beech Holdings
A Manchester developer has been backed by an international bank with a funding arrangement of over £14m.
Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME) has extended its first facility in the city to residential developer, Beech Holdings.
The bank’s initial arrangement of £14,162,500 will fund the construction of 80 units at Piccadilly Warehouse, Bloom Street, 18 units on Duke Street and a further 25 apartments at Brooklands House, Media City, with a combined GDV of £38m.
Wilson Henry
Business advisory firm Sedulo Group has expanded with the acquisition of Liverpool accountancy firm Wilson Henry.
The deal comes off the back of a successful launch by the group in Liverpool, in which Sedulo transformed a space in Exchange Flags into offices that include an American diner, a bar area styled on The Ivy and Victorian rooftop terrace.
Wilson Henry brings in almost 30 team members from accountancy, audit, taxation and corporate finance backgrounds.
This acquisition means Sedulo Group, founded in 2009 and with offices in Manchester, Leeds, London and Liverpool, are now one of the largest advisory firms in the North - employing 175 people.
Asgard Engineering
Hyde-based Asgard Engineering has been snapped up by Pressure Tech in Hadfield.
Law firm Davis Blank Furniss has acted for the buyer and the value of the deal has not been disclosed.
Asgard Engineering supplies precision CNC (computer numerical control) machined components - including pumps, valves, fasteners, and bone screws to various sectors such as aerospace, food, pharmaceuticals and nuclear power generation.
The corporate team at Davis Blank Furniss, which was led by Sonio Singh, advised Pressure Tech on all aspects of the transaction including legal due diligence and all transactional matters through to closing. The team also included Lauren Sever (solicitor), Rosie Akin-Akinyosoye and Shiva Shadi who is an employment partner.
John Sykes of Skye provided CF advice and Ian Buckley of Bennett Verby provided financial due diligence assistance.