finnCap Cavendish, part of finnCap Group plc, is pleased to announce it has advised on the sale of Vero Screening, the UK’s largest independent employment screening provider, to Accurate Background, the largest privately held provider of compliant background checks, drug and health screening, and monitoring solutions in the USA.

Founded in 2006, Vero Screening is a UK-based supplier of screening services that provides expert knowledge and world-class service for clients in 200+ countries, with specialty in the financial services, banking, legal, professional services and technology sectors.

Vero Screening will continue to operate under its own brand and to be led by co-founder and CEO Rupert Emson who will join Accurate’s executive leadership team

The deal was led by Mark Kingston, Partner and Head of Human Capital M&A at finnCap Cavendish, supported by Mike Dinsdale (Director) and Hugh Ripley (Senior Associate).

Rupert Emson, Co-founder-CEO of Vero Screening, commented:

“In an industry where candidate and client experience are paramount, Accurate and Vero are aligned with a focus on service excellence and a safer hiring process from start to finish. Today marks a new chapter for our business and our team, and we look forward to joining the Accurate family, to advance the screening experience and expand our global footprint in highly regulated, compliance-driven vertical markets.

“We engaged with finnCap Cavendish over 18 months ago to help us prepare for sale. The team’s sector specialist advice and guidance, combined with astute management of every aspect of the transaction process, delivered an exceptional deal that has surpassed all expectation, our shareholders are delighted."

Tim Dowd, CEO of Accurate Background, commented:

“We are committed to leading the industry in global employment screening by continuing to provide exceptional candidate and client experience, compliance expertise and technological innovation. With the addition of Vero Screening, Accurate continues our global expansion to meet the needs of global multinational organizations as they quickly onboard talent and manage risk with industry-leading screening and monitoring services.”

Mark Kingston, Partner & Head of Human Capital M&A at finnCap Cavendish commented:

“We are delighted to have advised the Vero team on their deal with Accurate. In a rapidly consolidating sector, Vero stood out as being one of only a handful of premium independent assets and we are delighted to have achieved a deal for the shareholders that fully reflects this.”

finnCap Cavendish, part of finnCap Group plc, is pleased to announce it has advised on the sale of Nolan Partners, a specialist executive search firm focused exclusively on the global sports, entertainment and related sectors, to Excel Sports Management (“Excel”), a US-based industry-leading sports agency that represents iconic talent, blue chip brands and marquee properties.

Founded in 2006, Nolan Partners primarily focuses on senior executive and board level roles and works on a global basis with clients that range from leading sports teams, governing bodies and other major corporate organisations in sports. Recent client placements range from the National Football League’s (NFL) Seattle Seahawks (pictured) to Major League Baseball, Premier League club Arsenal FC and French Ligue 1 club AS Monaco.

The transaction marks Excel’s first footprint in Europe and will form a key pillar of its international growth strategy. Following completion, Nolan Partners will continue to be led by Chief Executive Officer Paul Nolan and US President Chad Biagini.

The deal was led by Mark Kingston, Partner and Head of Human Capital M&A at finnCap Cavendish and Paris McNicol-Outch, Associate.

Paul Nolan, Founder-CEO, Nolan Partners: "Over the last 16 years, we’ve grown to become the biggest search firm in the world dedicated to executive search in sports and entertainment, working in partnership with brands and wonderful clients across more than 20 countries and in every major sports league. Today, we join with Excel, enhancing our ability to see our clients achieve their fullest potential both on and off the field.

"The finnCap Cavendish team played a critical role in helping us to secure the right partner and home for our business. The team’s recruitment sector expertise and commitment throughout the deal was second to none, I would have no hesitation in recommending them to other business owners considering M&A.”

Jeff Schwartz, Founder and President, Excel Sports Management commented: “Nolan Partners is a globally recognized leader in executive placement due to their unmatched track record, industry connectivity and remarkable growth story”. “At Excel, we strive to be the absolute best at any business we enter and, similarly, Nolan Partners are best-in-class at what they do.”

Mark Kingston, Partner & Head of Human Capital at finnCap Cavendish commented: “We are absolutely delighted to have advised Paul and the Shareholders on this transaction which further demonstrates our leading expertise in the recruitment sector and our ability to complete cross-border deals with highly strategic buyers. With the support of Excel, we believe Nolan is ideally placed to capitalise on significant global market opportunities during the coming years.

finnCap Cavendish, part of financial advisory firm, finnCap Group plc, is pleased to announce it has advised on the sale of NVM-backed Intelling Group Limited, one of the UK’s leading tech BPOs, to London-based investment firm RDCP Group.

Intelling offers business process outsourcing, data management and analytics, and digital marketing solutions to telecommunications and media, utilities, retail, and technology and consulting industries.

NVM first backed Intelling in 2017 when the company was delivering business process outsourcing (BPO) and communications services across three continents to a range of blue-chip clients.

As a result of both investment and additional Board support, the company has been transformed into a £40 million turnover, tech-enabled business employing more than 1,000 staff at multiple sites, both in the UK and overseas. The company now counts blue-chip companies such as Vodafone, TalkTalk, Serco, and Experian as key clients alongside its established relationship with O2.

Founded in 2015 by Sameer Rizvi and Iryna Dubylovska, RDCP Group controls $350 million of investments across multiple sectors, and employs 675 staff members in the UK. This latest deal is RCDP’s seventh acquisition in the last 18 months.

The existing management team led by Phil Morgan, Craig Winnard, Steve Taylor, Glenn Seddington and Kerry Anderson will retain a large stake in the business and will work closely with RDCP founders on Intelling’s future growth strategy.

Mike Dinsdale, Director at finnCap Cavendish, who led the transaction commented:

“It was a pleasure working with NVM and Intelling on this transaction, which will accelerate Phil and the Intelling management team’s ambitions to increase their client base and improve the accessibility of their services, both in the UK and abroad.”

The finnCap Debt Advisory Team has supported Cortland, a leading global multifamily real estate investment, development, and management firm, in its acquisition of Qdime Group, a leading provider of property management solutions in the UK, through the provision of debt financing provided by UK lender Apera Asset Management. 

“We are delighted with the assistance and guidance provided by the finnCap Debt Advisory team to support this hugely important acquisition. The key for us was to find a strategic lending partner in the UK; therefore, the team’s intimate knowledge of the UK debt market and network of lending partners proved essential in achieving this successful outcome.”

Paul Wrights, President of Cortland Europe

finnCap Cavendish, part of financial advisory firm, finnCap Group plc, is pleased to announce it has advised on the sale of GCSEPod (Soundbite Learning), a market-leading digital learning and assessment platform, to Access Group, a leading provider of business management software to mid-sized organizations.

Soundbite Learning is a subscription-based platform which operates primarily through its B2B branded offering, ‘GCSEPod’. Trusted by over 1,700 schools in 40+ countries and with over 10 years in the sector, GCSEPod has expertise in developing continuously award-winning content in a rapidly changing environment. The triple Bett award winner has created exceptional assessment features which pinpoint knowledge gaps and areas of low confidence in groups and for individual students making effective planning and intervention easier. Exam-style assignments can also be used to evidence attainment and the data derived from the platform is unrivalled in the industry.

With education leaders recognising the growing importance that technology plays as they recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this marks a highly strategic acquisition for Access Group, integrating GCSEPod’s blended learning and engagement system into its education portfolio.

Access Education is one of the leading providers of software solutions for over 8,000 learning institutions in the UK, dedicated to supporting its education customers through every school, teacher and parent interaction.

Mike Dinsdale, Director at finnCap Cavendish said:

“We are delighted to have advised the shareholders of GCSEPod on this successful transaction. Over the years, the GCSEPod team have built an outstanding, award-winning platform, combining the foundation of learning & assessment into a product that delivers tangible results for students. In Access, we are confident that the business has found the right home and look forward to witnessing the next phase of its growth story.”

John Farrugia, Managing Partner at finnCap Cavendish commented:

“We are very proud to have advised on this deal, further cementing finnCap Cavendish’s expertise in the fast-growing ed-tech market. At finnCap we are passionate about creating equal opportunities for the younger generation and this deal will allow GCSEPod to accelerate its growth plans and continue to provide accessible and engaging digital content for the British school curriculum, allowing students, regardless of their background, to progress in their education.”

finnCap Cavendish, part of financial advisory firm, finnCap Group plc, is pleased to announce it has advised on the sale of Qdime Group, the UK market-leading residential property management service business, to Cortland.

Cortland is a US multifamily real estate, investment and management firm.  It owns and operates nearly 70,000 rental units in the US, and has exported its proven resident-centric rental model to its UK build to rent, leasehold and other private rented sector operations. With this acquisition, Cortland will be in the top ten largest block management providers in the UK.

The acquisition will see Qdime founders, Nigel Burnand and Robert Burnand, stay on to join Cortland as Managing Director Block Operations and Director Block Operations, respectively.  All staff are expected to be retained as part of the transition.

Peter Gray, Partner of finnCap Cavendish, led on the deal.

Peter commented:

“This represents an excellent deal for both parties. Cortland brings significant expertise in the rental property management market which has the capacity to significantly enhance Qdime’s growth.  The Qdime shareholders have achieved a good financial outcome and are confident that the business is now in excellent hands to achieve its significant growth potential.  Following on from the sale of Pimlico Plumbers to KKR backed Neighborly, the deal is yet another finnCap Cavendish transaction where we have found a US acquirer for our clients, emphasizing the strength of our international reach.”

finnCap DebtAdvisory advises Improve International (“Improve”), a global provider of continuing education to the veterinary sector and portfolio company of RJD Partners (“RJD”), on the recapitalisation of the business through a debt facility provided by Santander.

Richard Caston, Partner, RJD: “We backed the MBO of Improve during a global pandemic and opted to equity underwrite the full value of the deal at completion. Having performed well since the MBO, the business was in a strong position to be recapitalised and allow us to return a significant portion of the invested capital to our investors. We mandated finnCap and were very pleased with the range of deliverable options that they presented.”

Chris Convey, CFO, Improve: “The new debt facility from Santander is one of a range of options considered; however, the ultimate financing structure ticked a number of boxes. The facility has enabled us to reduce the business’ cost of capital as well as setting up the perfect platform to execute our growth strategy. The support of the finnCap team was fantastic and enabled me to keep most of my focus on the business whilst having full ownership at critical milestones during the process.”

Alistair Hay, Partner & Head of finnCap Debt Advisory: “It was a pleasure to work with Richard and Chris on the recapitalisation of Improve. Amidst strong interest from lenders, Santander’s offering proved the perfect fit in providing significant liquidity to shareholders alongside flexibility to deliver Improve’s growth plan.”

finnCap Debt Advisory supports Rockpool Investments / Cambridge Maintenance Services on their acquisition of Acorn Engineering Group with funding provided by Clydesdale Bank. The transaction follows the team advising Rockpool on securing senior debt facilities from Clydesdale Bank funds to support the MBO of Cambridge Maintenance Services a leading UK provider of mechanical and electrical engineering services.

Cavendish Corporate Finance, the UK’s leading mid-market M&A firm and part of the finnCap Group, has advised strategic economics consultancy Vivid Economics and climate analytics technology business Planetrics on their sale to leading global consultancy firm McKinsey & Company.

Vivid Economics is a strategic economics consultancy with highly specialised sustainability and macroeconomic capabilities. Established in 2006, Vivid Economics initially launched with a focus on natural resources and climate change, quickly expanding into niches ranging from industrial transformation and energy, to international development, trade, urbanization and earth observation. Vivid Economics advises blue-chip clients across a range of sectors including both public and private sectors.

Planetrics, a sister company to Vivid Economics, is a specialist technology business providing climate change scenario analysis to the financial services industry. It is a leader in physical and transition risk and opportunity modelling. The Planetrics model enables leading banks, insurers, asset owners, and asset managers to incorporate climate risks into their strategy and portfolio management, risk management, stress testing, and reporting activities.

The deal strengthens McKinsey’s ability to advise its client base on how to assess and address their environmental risks and how they can manage assets from an environmental standpoint. With record inflows into environmentally focused stocks and a global push away from carbon and towards green energy, environmental concerns are increasingly seen as one of the core areas of focus in advising companies on their financial sustainability.

“While progress has been made, the majority of stakeholders are unprepared for the physical and financial impact to their businesses and to society,” says McKinsey senior partner Dickon Pinner. “This acquisition will enable us to help clients across all sectors and geographies transform themselves to successfully navigate the risks and opportunities presented by the economy-wide transition to a more sustainable future.”

“McKinsey has been a leading voice in sustainability and climate change,” says Jason Eis, CEO of Vivid Economics and Chairman of Planetrics. “We are looking forward to combining our collective experience, technology, and our analytical and creative thinking in the pursuit of tackling such critical global challenges.”

The deal was led by Jon Edirmanasinghe, Partner at Cavendish.

Jon Edirmanasinghe, Partner, Cavendish Corporate Finance, commented: “We are thrilled to have advised on this transaction. The acquisition of Vivid Economics and Planetrics together will bring deep specialist expertise and market leading analytics to McKinsey’s already formidable offering, and we’re confident in success going forward with all parties sharing a common desire to positively impact both business and society. It was a pleasure working with the Vivid and Planetrics teams on this transaction”.

Cavendish Corporate Finance has advised the shareholders of Inside Pensions, the largest independent pensions executive support provider in the UK on its sale to international active wealth, global expansion and fund services firm ZEDRA.

The deal will provide St Albans based Inside Pensions, which already has a portfolio of blue chip companies, with the international springboard to take its considerable experience of servicing pension scheme trustees to new clients and into new territories.

For ZEDRA, acquiring such a well-regarded company in this space gives it the opportunity to develop its exposure to the UK market and increase its offering to clients.

Inside Pensions operates in the crucially important but difficult to access area of outsourced assistance for Trustee Boards of occupational pension schemes, helping them run their schemes efficiently by ensuring compliant board administration, awareness of regulatory changes and best practice governance. Companies are increasingly unwilling to carry the cost or key-man risk of in house pension experts to manage their liability, making outsourced solutions provided by firms such as Inside Pensions attractive, supporting trustees to ensure the schemes can meet their obligation to employees in retirement.

Inside Pensions has 39 employees and boasts high quality and long term client relationships, which it will be able to take seamlessly into its next chapter with ZEDRA given the two firms’ aligned goals.

The considerable interest for Inside Pensions demonstrates both its renown in the sector, the strong growth drivers for this kind of outsourced solution and also the improving economic conditions that helped make a deal come together so quickly.

Andrew Jeffs, Cavendish Corporate Finance Partner and Head of Business Services, commented: “We are very pleased to have advised the shareholders of Inside Pensions on this transaction.  Rita, Rachael and Ryan have built the business since 2008 with a long term view of always doing the right thing by their clients and staff.  It was vital to find the right partner to help the firm with its next stage of growth and in ZEDRA I believe we have found a company that shares the same values and vision, as well as one that can realize the global potential of Inside Pensions given its international reach.

We were impressed from the start by Inside Pensions’ long term relationships with occupational pension schemes with combined assets of over £130bn.  The acquisition gives ZEDRA a strong platform to expand its offering in pensions and employee benefits more generally.  In completing the acquisition of the largest privately owned provider in the UK, they are gaining entry into one of the more regulated and difficult to interrupt subsectors of employee benefits, independent pension trustee support.

With no let-up in the rising tide of regulation and the increased burden of compliance on pension schemes and many other players, we expect to see continued deal activity in the outsourced compliance sector.”

Ivo Hemelraad, ZEDRA Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are delighted to further boost our presence in the UK by welcoming the employees and clients of Inside Pensions to ZEDRA. Inside Pensions has a strong reputation and a leading position in the outsourced pension trustee executive services market, which has significant barriers to entry. The unrivalled expertise and experience of the Inside Pensions team will considerably extend the level of support we can offer to our clients in the pension services space both in the UK and in other jurisdictions.”

Rita Powell Chairman and Founder at Inside Pensions, commented: “Inside Pensions was born out of a market need for independent, professional support for pension trustees, separate from the sponsor, other advisors and service providers to ensure that there was no conflict of interest. The company’s independence enables it to work with and suggest a range of other consulting services, including actuarial, legal and investment advisory.  It has grown from a boutique business to the UK’s leading independent pensions executive support provider for UK occupational pension schemes. Being part of  ZEDRA will enable Inside Pensions to continue to focus on excellent client service and offer a wider range of services to our clients”.

Rachael Fortescue Co-Managing Directors at Inside Pensions: “We are thrilled to join ZEDRA with its established global network and client base and we look forward to becoming a part of the group as it continues to grow and expand its service offering. We are confident that our long- standing industry experience is a perfect fit with ZEDRA’s inherited wealth of knowledge of the role of trustees and its related challenges. It also builds on ZEDRA’s existing international employee benefits portfolio and pension plans offering.”

The finnCap Debt Advisory Team has advised Rockpool Investments on securing senior debt facilities from Clydesdale Bank. The funds will support the MBO of Cambridge Maintenance Services a leading UK provider of mechanical and electrical engineering services.

Tom Coey, who led the deal for Rockpool: “This deal represents a fantastic opportunity for our investors to support an established and well managed business with an excellent reputation in the facilities management sector. We are delighted with the debt financing package arranged by finnCap, which was a critical element to the completion of the transaction. We were extremely pleased with how the process was managed by the finnCap Debt Advisory Team, which provided us with optionality to select the most appropriate banking partner for CMS."

Alistair Hay, Partner, Cavendish Corporate Finance LLP: "We are grateful for the opportunity to once again work with the ever impressive Rockpool team and know that they have found the right financing partner in Clydesdale for CMS. Likewise CMS has found an ideal and supportive long-term investor in Rockpool and we look forward to watching the business continue to grow in its sector and become the maintenance service provider of choice."