Osborne Clarke bagged the award for law firm of the year, while advisory group Tenon won M&A accountancy firm of the year and Icon Corporate Finance walked off with corporate finance boutique of the year.
The M&A Awards, which are now in their third year, recognise the contributions of those who have been involved in mergers and acquisitions over the past 12 months, and are based on M&A magazine’s transaction data and opinion from a panel of independent experts.
Richard Morley, director at NBGI Private Equity, had an eventful evening, winning M&A Personality of the Year. Morley scooped the accolade for his role in some of the UK’s most lucrative private equity transactions of recent years, including the firm’s exit of commercial boiler company Hamworth Heating, generating a multiple of six times the initial investment and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 37.5 per cent.
Buy-out house ECI Partners’ sale of Racal Acoustics, a UK provider of hearing protection and communications products for military and avionics applications, to Esterline Technologies for £115 million, was awarded M&A Deal of the Year for netting a 4.7 times cash multiple and 67 per cent IRR.
Sara Williams, CEO of M&A‘s publisher Vitesse Media, said, ‘The financial climate means many acquisitive companies are relying more than ever on the advice they receive from their various advisers. We feel it is important to recognise the achievements of these leading players in the mid-market space.’
