The Azets South West and Wales specialist corporate finance team has seen growth in 2022, despite economic uncertainty. The team, led by Katherine Broadhurst, completed 19 deals in the last 12 months with a total value of £130m and an average value of £6.8m. The average deal value has increased from 2021 by £1.7m.
As well as this, the team followed up the appointment of Claire Marshall as Director and the promotion of Eloise Davies to Assistant Manager with the recruitment of Adam Dix as Corporate Finance Executive and Rhydian Griffiths as Associate. After completing work experience with the team in 2017, Adam joins as Corporate Finance Executive, having gained his ACA qualification at KPMG. Rhydian joined the team in September 2022 after gaining a year’s experience working in insolvency – he is currently undertaking the professional level exams of the ACA qualification. This team growth comes as Katherine Broadhurstcelebrates 20 years with Azets (previously Broomfield Alexander) and was awarded Wales Insider’s Dealmaker of the Year 2022.
Katherine Broadhurst, Partner at Azets, commented: “Despite uncertainty in the economy, we are still seeing good opportunities for acquirers and owners. Financial due diligence is increasingly focussed on the maintainability of profit, which is even more challenging now given the impacts of Brexit, COVID, inflation, rising interest rates and the effect on customers’ purchasing habits. For sellers, we’re finding that there’s a finer focus on finding the right buyers and more interest in deal structure.
Many companies have sought to streamline operations as a result of the pandemic, which gives buyers the opportunity to acquire more efficient and profitable businesses but will make the sustainability thereof a key aspect of due diligence.
Looking forward, we are seeing an increase in the use of earn-outs to bridge the gap between buyer and seller value expectations, managing the downside risk for buyers and providing buyers with the potential for upside. This may increase the length of seller involvement post transaction to support a successful outcome for both sides.
The next 12 months will see more challenges, but also opportunities – planning will be key across businesses of all sizes. With our new recruits and constantly growing team, we’re well equipped to support clients of all sizes to make suitable and realistic business decisions, as we prepare to go through another tricky period.”
