PKF Francis Clark defy market uncertainty with deals worth £137m

Deals worth around £137m have been completed by PKF Francis Clark’s Corporate Finance team in the past three months.

Demand has been growing for the team’s services across the south of England, despite uncertainty in the broader market.

The award-winning chartered accountants and business advisory company – which runs eight offices in the South West, from Bristol in the north to Truro in the south – completed a dozen deals in the period from September to November.

They include the market-leading funding of Eden’s Geothermal project and a series of transactions including the sale of JMC Broadberry to US-based Sourcecode and the MBO of Arada.

Based upon ongoing strategic work with a number of businesses in the area, they expect the aftermath of the election to result in more transactions – whatever the political outcome.

Andrew Killick, Partner and Head of Corporate Finance at PKF Francis Clark, said: “With Brexit still lingering around and a real risk of post-election change, we are seeing owner-managed businesses deciding to get on with their plans rather than delaying any further, with the continuing strong liquidity in the funding market enabling them to do so.”

To meet the increasing demand a further three staff will be joining the team in the new year.

The new recruits include one from within PKF Francis Clark and two external hires –Sophie Watton from PwC and Sam Phillips from Ernst & Young, who will join as Director working out of the recently-opened Bristol office.