Our annual M&A Awards will be taking place in June and we have opened the doors for nominations.

The best of the mergers and acquisitions world will be celebrated over the course of the evening as awards including Dealmaker of the Year and IPO of the Year are handed out.

This time round we’ve introduced some exciting new categories as we look to shake up what will be the sixth outing of the prestigious event. We’ve separated out the deal category by creating a Cross-border Deal of the Year and a UK Deal of the Year.

We feel this reflects the growing importance of overseas purchases and the expertise that goes into making sure a foreign acquisition goes off without a hitch.

Also making its first appearance in the category line-up is M&A Personality of the Year. While we already have Dealmaker of the Year, the new award will recognise a professional adviser with a reputation in the M&A community for making deals happen. The individual will be highly regarded for the accuracy of his or her professional judgement, a willingness to go beyond the call of duty, and the ability to find creative solutions to tricky M&A problems.

In another exciting addition to the awards, we will also be hosting a day conference ahead of the ceremony on 27 June when discussion topics will focus on: the secrets to successful cross-border deals, making M&A work after the deal, getting deal ready and new models to fund acquisitions.

At this stage though we’re looking for nominations for whom you think should be acknowledged for their hard work and successful deals. We’ve had some big personalities and fantastic companies recognized over the years ranging from investment veteran Simon Cook to Tech City early bird Moonpig, and this year will be no different.