Rainmaker Awards

Teams

Regional Legal TeamNational Legal TeamRegional Corporate Finance Advisory TeamNational Corporate Finance Advisory TeamVC/Private Equity TeamDebt FunderAsset-based Lending TeamDue DiligenceTax Advisory

Deals

Private Equity Exit of the YearInternational Deal of the YearSmall Deal of the Year (up to £10m)Medium Deal of the Year (£10m-£50m)Large Deal of the Year (over £50m)

Individual

Rising Star of the YearChangemaker of the YearRainmaker of the Year

Teams

Legal

Addleshaw Goddard

Corporate Finance

Sentio Partners

VC/Private Equity

LDC

Funder

HSBC

Transaction Services

Grant Thornton

Deals

Small Cap (up to £15m)

YorkTest Laboratories secured a £10m investment from NVM Private Equity
Squire Patton Boggs, Walker Morris, Ward Hadaway, Mazars, PwC, NVM Private Equity

Private Equity Exit

Phoenix Equity Partners exited Nexus Vehicle Rental after its sale to Equistone
Addleshaw Goddard, Squire Patten Boggs, Rothschild & Co, PwC, Park Place

M&A

Hippo Digital acquired data consultancy The Data Shed
Grant Thornton, Squire Patton Boggs, Armstrong, KPMG, DWF, Vista Insurance, NatWest, Addleshaw Goddard

International

Irish utilities group Beauparc Utilities acquired Acumen Waste Services
Burges Salmon, Clarion Solicitors, BDO, Park Place Corporate Finance

Public Markets

Marshalls acquired Marley in a £535m deal, part-funded by a £187m placing and open offer
Pinsent Masons, Slaughter & May, Grant Thornton, Numis Securities, Rothschild & co

Private Company

Arc Inspirations received a £19m investment, from BGF to support the accelerated rollout of its Banyan Bar & Kitchen, BOX and Manahatta brands
Gordons, Squire Patton Boggs, KPMG, BGF

Individual

Rising Star

Hannah Kirkup - Key Capital Partners

Changemaker

Nicola McQuaid - NorthEdge

Rainmaker

Jonathan Simms - Clarion

Teams

Legal

Addleshaw Goddard

Corporate Finance

Clearwater International

VC/Private Equity

Palatine Private Equity

Funder

TDC

Transaction Services

Cortus Advisory

Deals

Small Cap (up to £15m)

Maven Capital Partners acquired ProofID for £15m
Clearwater International, Maven Capital Partners

Private Equity Exit

WestBridge took a majority stake in Alpine Fire Engineers, investing £18.7m, while Soho Square Capital exited.
Addleshaw Goddard, Pinsent Masons, BDO, Blick Rothenberg, Clearwater International. Grant Thornton, Jamieson Corporate Finance, Soso Square Capital, WestBridge, Shawbrook

M&A

RSK made seven acquisitions of consultancy businesses around the UK in six weeks
Dow Schofield Watts, Cortus Advisory, DWF

International

Fishawack acquired American healthcare advisers Avalere Health
Clearsight Advisors

Public Markets

Sun European Partners bought K3 Capital Group for £270m
Houlihan Lokey, Numis Securities Ltd, Addleshaw Goddard

Private Company

The Modern Milkman raised £50m in its Series C funding round
Willkie Farr & Gallagher, ETF Partners, Insight Partners, Praetura Ventures

Individual

Rising Star

Jacob Leone - LDC

Changemaker

Nicola Merritt - Cortus Advisory

Rainmaker

Andrew Feeke - MHA Moore & Smalley

Teams

Legal
Sponsored by Rhino Interiors

Shoosmiths

Corporate Finance

Clearwater International

VC/Private Equity
Sponsored by Kuboid

NorthEdge

Funder

HSBC

Transaction Services

RSM

Deals

Small Cap (up to £15m)

Premier Paper Group bought Wine Box Company
Gateley, Harrison Clark Rickerbys, BDO, Orbis Partners

Private Equity Exit

Palatine achieved a 5.8x return on its investment in CTS Group, through a sale to Oakley Capital
Palatine, Clearwater, Gateley, Browne Jacobson, Deloitte

M&A

Telecoms firm Wavenet, acquired OGL Computer Support Holdings and its two subsidiaries OGL Computer Support and CyberGuard Technologies
DWF, Squire Patton Boggs, Orbis Partners

International

Birmingham marketing tech firm Inspired Thinking Group (Team ITG) acquired New Zealand-based Brand Machine

Public Markets

Mercia Asset Management acquired Frontier Development Capital, for £7m and with a further £4m dependent on performance
Canaccord Genuity, Mercia Asset Management

Private Company

Friend MTS was backed by private equity firm NorthEdge
Alantra, Fredrikson & Byron PA, Freeths, Gateley, Squire Patton Boggs, Walkers, Appleby, BDO LLP, Friend LLP, KPMG, Keystone Partners, Mazars

Individual

Rising Star

Matthew Guest, Springboard Corporate Finance

Changemaker

Beth Mather, Gateley

Rainmaker
Sponsored by Michael Page

Sarah Taylor, Clearwater International

Teams

Legal

Addleshaw Goddard

Corporate Finance

Houlihan Lokey

VC/Private Equity

Foresight Group

Funder

Tosca Debt Capital

Deals

Deal under £15m

Apprentify acquired Netcom Training, backed by £5m investment from BGF

Private Equity Exit

DA Languages was bought by IK Partners, with Foresight exiting

Private Company

Matillion raised $150m in a funding round led by General Atlantic

Public Markets

Victorian Plumbing floated on AIM, raising nearly £300m

M&A

Inflexion bought ANS, to combine with existing investment UKFast

International

Blue Prism was acquired by US fintech giant SS&C for £1.24bn

Individual

Rising Star (under 35)

Peter Barkley - WestBridge

Changemaker

Beth Houghton - Palatine Private Equity

Rainmaker

Dominic Orsini - Houlihan Lokey

Teams

Legal

Clarion

Corporate Finance

Clearwater International

VC/Private Equity

BGF

Funder

HSBC

Deals

Small Cap (under £20m)

Sheffield Forgemasters was acquired by the Ministry of Defence

Private Equity Exit

The sale of Estio Training to BPP Education Group was the first exit from Palatine’s Impact Fund

M&A

Succession and growth finance raising for Carnaby Caravans

Rising Stars

Legal

Mae Salem, Squire Patton Boggs

Corporate Finance

Duncan Morpeth, Grant Thornton

Investment

Paul Denvers, Enact

Funder

Rebecca Rennison, EY

Individual

Changemaker

Rob Atkinson, Virgin Money

Rainmaker

Stephen Griffiths, Rothschild & Co

Teams

Regional Legal TeamNational Legal TeamRegional Corporate Finance Advisory TeamNational Corporate Finance Advisory TeamVC/Private Equity TeamDebt FunderAsset-based Lending TeamDue DiligenceTax Advisory

Deals

Private Equity Exit of the YearInternational Deal of the YearSmall Deal of the Year (up to £10m)Medium Deal of the Year (£10m-£50m)Large Deal of the Year (over £50m)

Individual

Rising Star of the YearChangemaker of the YearRainmaker of the Year

Summer 2024 will mark the return of the Rainmaker Awards.The Rainmaker Awards will bring together the West Midlands deals community to celebrate the best deals and teams from the past 12 months, as voted for by the corporate finance community themselves in a one firm, one vote system.The casual dress code, swaps the traditional tuxedos and long speeches for an evening that focuses on recognising and celebrating the best work from the year.The night will provide an opportunity to network with the leading individuals and firms in the region.

Sponsors

Charity Partner

Teams

Regional Legal TeamNational Legal TeamRegional Corporate Finance Advisory TeamNational Corporate Finance Advisory TeamVC/Private Equity TeamDebt FunderAsset-based Lending TeamDue DiligenceTax Advisory

Deals

Private Equity Exit of the YearInternational Deal of the YearSmall Deal of the Year (up to £10m)Medium Deal of the Year (£10m-£50m)Large Deal of the Year (over £50m)

Individual

Rising Star of the YearChangemaker of the YearRainmaker of the Year

Teams

Regional Legal TeamNational Legal TeamRegional Corporate Finance Advisory TeamNational Corporate Finance Advisory TeamVC/Private Equity TeamDebt FunderAsset-based Lending TeamDue DiligenceTax Advisory

Deals

Private Equity Exit of the YearInternational Deal of the YearSmall Deal of the Year (up to £10m)Medium Deal of the Year (£10m-£50m)Large Deal of the Year (over £50m)

Individual

Rising Star of the YearChangemaker of the YearRainmaker of the Year