A large number of high-profile companies and entrepreneurs have announced a series of acquisitions and investments across the North West in recent weeks.
Among those featured in this week's round up are fast fashion giant Boohoo, beauty, wellness and software giant THG, the owner of WeBuyAnyCar as well as Jaguar Land Rover
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Do you have a deal you would like featured in our next round up? Please email jon.robinson@reachplc.com.
Here, BusinessLive rounds up the latest deals from across the North West that we feel you should not miss:
Illuma
A former Apple director and Social Chain co-founder have invested in an advertising technology company whose clients include Coca-Cola, VW and Sky.
Illuma has been backed by Colin Greene, Apple’s former director of US consumer retail, as well as Dominic McGregor who set up Social Chain with Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett.
The London-based firm has also secured investment from Manchester-headquartered Praetura Ventures whose portfolio includes Peak, Sorted and BankiFi.
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SamsonVT
A technology start-up whose clients include Lotus, RS Components and Norton Motorcycles has received $5.1m in seed funding.
Manchester-headquartered SamsonVT has secured the funding boost through an investment round led by Par Equity, with participation from US-based Blumberg Capital.
The company was co-founded by Sam Burgess and Ed Brunyee in 2017 and also has a base at Sci-Tech Daresbury in Warrington.
Statiflo International
A Cheshire engineering company which works with the likes of Shell, P&G and Unilever has completed a management buyout.
Directors Paul Davies, Paul Buck and Carl Wilkinson have acquired a majority stake in Statiflo International for an undisclosed sum.
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The trio have bought the Macclesfield business from the family of owner and managing director Gareth Fry, who passed away last year following a short illness.
Jaguar Land Rover
Jaguar Land Rover has received a £625m boost to support the research, development and export of battery electric vehicles.
A total of 80% has been backed by an export development guarantee from the Government's 海角视频 Export Finance, International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan confirmed.
The rest of the financing has been made up from 12 commercial banks.
Sourced Capital
A peer-to-peer business platform has been acquired by the property investment arm of Sourced Group after it gained direct authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Warrington-based Sourced Capital has snapped up Peer Funding for an undisclosed sum.
Sourced Capital provides asset-backed property development investment opportunities to high net worth, corporate and institutional investors.
THG
A top boss at online beauty, wellness and software giant THG has sold more than £8m in shares which were held on his behalf by chief executive Matthew Moulding.
Steven Whitehead, who is the group's commercial director, made the move on Wednesday, according to new documents filed with the London Stock Exchange.
The deal came after THG's share price plunged by 20% to a record low on Monday, January 24.
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Gladman Developments
A Cheshire-headquartered land promoter has been acquired by Barratt Developments for £250m.
Gladman Developments is to operate as a stand-alone business within the group and will continue to be led by its management team.
In the three years through to 31 March 2019, prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Gladman generated average annual sales of £52.5m, an EBITDA of £19.6m, operating profits of £18.7m and pre-tax profits of £18.9m.
SmartKem
A $2m deal has been struck by a firm which makes materials for flexible electronics such as bendable smart phone displays, foldable laptops and TV backlights.
SmartKem, which is headquartered in Manchester, has completed the sale of one million shares in its common stock to current investor Octopus Ventures, an investor with stakes in the likes of Cazoo.
Each share was sold at a price of $2 which resulted in total proceeds of $2m.
Bolton Wanderers
Stakes in the owner of Bolton Wanderers, an online bookmaker and the Black Sheep Coffee chain have been snapped up by the 海角视频 taxpayer.
The British Business Bank has published a list of a further 108 companies in which the Government's Future Fund has invested in as of December 31, 2021.
The additional firms brings the total number of businesses backed by the fund to 265.
Beelivery
On-demand grocery delivery firm Beelivery has acquired counterpart Pinga for an undisclosed sum.
The Congleton-based company has snapped up the London business which has 600 drivers and riders.
The move comes after Beelivery received more than £1m from GreenBank Capital in June 2021.
Boohoo
A Boohoo director has made a further investment in the fast fashion giant worth more than £300,000.
Iain McDonald, who sits on the group's board as a non-executive director, has purchased 300,000 shares at 103.1p each.
Following the move, Mr McDonald holds a total of 721,336 shares in the Manchester-headquartered company, representing a stake of approximately 0.056%.
Lookers
The owner of WeBuyAnyCar.com and Cinch has acquired an almost 20% stake in dealership chain Lookers.
Constellation Automotive Holdings has snapped up a 19.9% holding in the Greater Manchester-headquartered listed company.
The majority of the shares were purchased at a price of 102p each from Tony Bramall (and associates), who stepped down as a non-executive director from the Lookers board in December 2020 after a term of 14 years.
Rowan Executive Search
An executive recruitment agency, which has worked with the likes of Social Chain and Clubhouse Golf, has acquired a counterpart in the life sciences sector.
Manchester and Chorley-based Rowan Executive Search has snapped up Claro Search & Selection in Warrington for an undisclosed sum.
The deal is Rowan Executive Search's first acquisition and comes after it was backed by investor LCap Group last year.
Steven Bartlett
Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett teamed up with Deborah Meaden to invest in a mum-of-two's subscription-based children's clothing business during a recent episode of the hit show.
The entrepreneur, who co-founded Social Chain in Manchester after dropping out of university, has backed Charlotte Morley's The Little Loop who asked for £70,000 for a 7.5% equity stake in the business.
In the end, she got £70,000 from both Dragons.
GBG
An identity verification specialist has acquired a counterpart in New Zealand for £10m.
GB Group (GBG) plc, which is headquartered in Chester, has snapped up Cloudcheck, which provides electronic identity verification and anti-money laundering services.
In the year to March 31, 2022, Cloudcheck is expected to generate approximately NZ$5m in revenue and an EBITDA of NZ$2m.
MCR Property Group
A real estate investment and development company has received a £100m boost to fund the purchase, refurbishment and expansion of six multi-let commercial sites.
Manchester-headquartered MCR Property Group agreed the debt facility with ICG Real Estate secured against a portfolio comprised of ten assets with over 1,000,000 sq ft of commercial property.
The majority of the warehouse and industrial projects, in Avonmouth, Swindon, Sheffield, Exeter, Middleton and Bridlington, will involve refurbishing large industrial premises and splitting them up into a series of smaller units where necessary.
Praetura Ventures
An insurance data intelligence provider has received a £3.4m investment led by a Manchester-based venture capital investor.
Percayso Inform has been backed by Praetura Ventures whose portfolio also includes the likes of Sorted, Peak and PixelMax.
The investment will see the firm increase product development which will enable the business to enter new sectors of the 海角视频 insurance market.
Newhall Publishing
Wirral-based content publishing and marketing agency Newhall Publishing has transferred its ownership into the hands of employees as the business marks its 60th year.
The move to an Employee Ownership Trust follows Newhall’s rebrand from magazine publisher to multichannel content publishing and marketing agency in 2014.
Newhall has a diverse client base including membership organisations, event companies and multinational businesses and its 38 strong-team deliver content campaigns for brands including British Cycling, The Royal Windsor Horse Show, The Kennel Club and The Game Fair Society.
Under the new structure, 100% of the company’s shares have been transferred to the Employee Ownership Trust, which allows the business to guarantee the future of the business and reward the work of its team. Chairman Andrew Douglas will exit the business.
Newhall Publishing will continue to be managed by joint Managing Directors Christine Blackford and Richard Woolliams.
Glaisyers ETL
Glaisyers ETL, the Manchester and London-based national solicitors firm, has acquired a minority stake in Wealth Recovery Solicitors, a specialist firm of investment fraud lawyers.
Following the deal David Jones, executive partner at Glaisyers ETL, has joined the board of WRS.
The business has also relocated from its offices on John Dalton Street in Manchester to Glaisyers ETL’s headquarters a short distance away at 1 St James’s Square.
WRS was established in March 2021 by director Josh Chinn, a qualified solicitor, and operations director Richard Irving, who also runs a property development and management business.
Mr Irving is a former Class of 93 Manchester United footballer who played in the same youth side as David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Gary and Phil Neville.
In its first year of trading WRS, which currently has a team of seven, recovered more than £2m on behalf of individuals who had lost money as a result of negligent or fraudulent investment schemes.