LEADING business advisory firm Grant Thornton UK LLP has announced further growth in its South West and Wales Corporate Finance Advisory team after an exceptional period of deal activity.

The team, which has led many of the stand-out transactions in the South West and Wales this year, has recruited Adam Hughes from the Natwest Structured Finance team to lead the Debt Advisory function in the region and has hired two young dealmakers, James Smart and Thomas Bew as Lead Advisory assistant managers.

With offices in Bristol and Cardiff, the Grant Thornton deals team led by partner Trefor Griffith and director Jamie Roberts, has had a record year, having recently advised on two successive Insider Deals of the Month and on a range of high profile transactions including:

Advising the shareholders of building products manufacturer Taylor Maxwell on the sale of the business for up to £63m to Brickability plc
Advising the founders of fast-growth licensed apparel and accessories company Character.com, which secured a multi-million pound investment from BGF
Leading the sale, on behalf of Sodexo, of South Wales-based Tillery Valley Foods, a key NHS supplier, to private equity-backed food manufacturer Joubere
Advising the founders of Cardiff-based specialist care group, Crusader Medical Care in its successful exit to Envivo Group
Leading a key strategic fund-raise for Freight Logistics Solutions with the Development Bank of Wales
Advising the shareholders of Healthfull Holdings Group Ltd (t/a Wholebake) on its sale to Elysian Capital

Trefor Griffith said: “We have a team of over 100 people advising on mid-market M&A nationally with a focus on key sectors and regions with Wales and the South West being one of those.

“We are delighted to have been able to add to our successful and high performing regional team with the recruitment of Adam, James and Thomas. It’s important that we keep on investing in the best talent to continue providing the highest possible levels of service as our clients seek to explore and realise opportunities presented by the current M&A environment.

“While there are challenges in some parts of the economy, there is also a lot of liquidity with private equity investors and corporates looking for high quality assets in the consumer, technology, food & beverage, human capital and healthcare sectors in particular.

Jamie Roberts added: “There are some outstanding businesses in our region as proven by their ability to adapt and thrive over the last 18 months. Despite some obvious challenges inherent in the wider economy, our M&A activity has continued to intensify with valuations buoyed by high levels of market liquidity and competition for quality assets of scale.

“Indications are that 2022 will see a continuation of the healthy level of deal flow with a number of factors potentially driving this even harder than was experienced over the course of 2021.”