A string of high-profile mergers and acquisitions have been announced and completed by North West businesses over the last week or so.
The likes of B&M, Real Good Food and Rathbones are among those to have been involved.
Below, BusinessLive has rounded up 14 of the biggest deals from across the region from the last couple of weeks we feel you should not miss.
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READ MORE: Bruntwood SciTech secures £100m in green funding to aid expansion plans
If you have a new deal that you would like featured in our next round up, please e-mail jon.robinson@reachplc.com.
B&M
B&M has agreed a new deal with seven banks to secure £450m in possible funding.
The Liverpool-headquartered discount retail giant revealed to investors that it has completed a refinancing of its bank facilities.
The syndicate of seven unnamed banks have agreed to provide B&M a £225m term loan and a £225m revolving credit facility (RCF).
B&M said they will "fully cover our anticipated bank borrowing requirements".
Franchise Brands
Franchise Brands has agreed to acquire the owner of Pirtek Europe in a deal worth over £200m.
The Macclesfield-headquartered franchise business is to buy Hydraulic Authority I Ltd, which is behind the provider of on-site hydraulic hose replacement and associated services, for a a consideration of £200m and £12.2m for cash, debt and working capital adjustments.
The deal and working capital requirements of Pirtek are to be funded by new bank debt facilities of £110m as well as a minimum of £110m in equity issued by Franchise Brands.
Rathbones
Liverpool-based wealth management giant Rathbones has agreed to by a division of rival Investec for £839m.
The deal for Investec Wealth & Investment UK will create a group overseeing £100bn of assets.
It includes Investec’s wealth and investment businesses in the UK and Channel Islands but not Switzerland-based Investec Bank and the international wealth arm.
Manchester Giants
The Manchester Giants were bought out of administration by the British Basketball League (BBL) before a search for a new investor was launched, BusinessLive can reveal.
The BBL issued a press release last week saying the league was "exploring offers from prospective third-party investors" for the franchise. No mention was made of the administration or sale.
But it has now emerged that Manchester Giants Limited entered administration on March 23 and was immediately sold to the league.
Bruntwood SciTech
The joint venture between property giant Bruntwood and Legal & General has secured a £100m boost.
Bruntwood SciTech has received the funding through its financing facilities from HSBC UK, Lloyds Bank, NatWest and Santander UK.
The money will allow the organisation to continue with its expansion plans "at pace to support the burgeoning demand from life science, tech and innovation businesses across the UK with world-class infrastructure and specialist support".
Real Good Food
Real Good Food has secured a short-term loan from two of its largest shareholders as it prepares to report a loss-making year.
The Liverpool-based food manufacturing business, which specialises in cake decoration, has received £550,000 from Downing LLP and Omnicane Investors.
Downing LLP has a stake of around 7% in the company while Omnicane Investors is its second-largest shareholder with a holding of over 20%.
GC Insight
Birmingham-based business support, research and evaluation firm Winning Moves has been acquired by Manchester-headquartered social enterprise Growth Company’s (GC) consulting arm (GC Insight) for an undisclosed sum.
Winning Moves CEO Adrian Davies has departed the company to pursue other business interests and chief operating officer Debs Secker has been promoted to managing director.
Managing director of GC Insight, Simon Hooton, said: "This is the culmination of many months of work and builds on GC’s commitment to create a compelling commercial consulting offer with purpose.
"Winning Moves has a really strong reputation in its core markets and a very capable team of researchers and advisors, which we want to grow. GC is committed to supporting the Winning Moves team to realise its potential in our social enterprise model alongside the rest of our GC Insight team."
Growth Company was advised on the transaction by Ben Bradley and Isabelle Luscombe of HURST’s corporate finance team and Adrian Young and Sarah Haley in HURST’s tax team.
Detectronic
Lancashire-based specialist in sewer and wastewater network monitoring and management Detectronic has been acquired.
The company has been snapped up for an undisclosed sum by environmental services business Adler and Allan.
Pannone Corporate advised the shareholders of Detectronic. The team included corporate partner, Tom Hall, and Andrew Walsh, senior associate. They were supported by Renee Neophytou and Lizzie O’Leary.
Steve Woods, executive chairman at Detectronic, said: "We are delighted to be joining the Adler and Allan Group.
"The services it offers, combined with its established position in the utilities market, allows us to extend our expert monitoring and management solutions to more companies."
TVD Group
Bolton-based TVD Group has handed a 51% stake in the company to its employees.
The founding Brown family has retained a 49% share in the business.
Chief executive Mat Brown said: "Growing TVD into the business it is today has taken huge focus, dedication, and hard work over the last 27 years.
"We can’t think of a better way to secure the future and independence of the business than to make the people that drive the business forward every day co-owners."
Vulse.co
Manchester-based AI firm Vulse.co has secured a pre-seed round of angel investment worth £150,000.
Vulse secured the investment from SFC Capital, to help LinkedIn users develop personal brands and promote company pages.
The company is aiming to raise an additional £100,000 of investment to close its current funding round.
Chief executive Rob Illidge said: "This milestone marks a crucial step in our journey towards revolutionising social media content creation using AI."
BCN Group
Manchester-headquartered BCN Group has acquired NewCMI for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2009, CMI has offices in London, Belfast and the Thames Valley.
BCN Group CEO Rob Davies said: "CMI’s complimentary product and service offering allows us to increase our Microsoft customer base and strengthen our team of technical experts. Importantly, the acquisition means we can take our combined technical capability to the next level, further establishing BCN as a key player among UK Managed Service Providers."
Genedrive
Manchester-based Genedrive has agreed terms on an equity prepayment facility for up to £5m with Riverfort Global Opportunities PCC.
The facility and the company's existing cash resources will be directed towards the commercialisation of the company's Antibiotic Induced Hearing Loss test, Genedrive MT-RNR1 ID Kit and enhancing the Genedrive platform through the validation and verification of its CYP2C19 test, Genedrive CYP2C19 ID Kit as well as providing additional working capital.
The business said: "The directors have assessed a number of financing options for the company including an equity raise but believe that the facility is the best option available to the company at the present time in order to further fund the company's progress while also taking consideration of the investor shareholder base."
Coadjute
Blockchain network Coadjute has announced a £4m investment funding round led by Manchester-based Praetura Ventures with other significant investors including Reech Corporations Group.
Coadjute is using the new funds to continue the network rollout and press ahead with its developments for buyers and sellers and for the financial services industry.
This round takes the total raised by Coadjute to £14m, following a £1m pre-seed round in 2019, £3m Seed round in 2020 and £6m round in 2021.
Enspec
Engineering company Enspec has completed a management buyout (MBO) along with the appointment of a new chief executive and chief technical officer.
Husband and wife Tim and Mara Rastall are the new co-leaders of the St Helens-based business.
Tim, who has been with Enspec for a decade, is the new CTO and Mara is taking the position of CEO.
The pair were previously directors alongside Enspec’s sibling founders David and Stephen Jones and have bought the majority share of the business.
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