Selling Start Ups Just how quickly can you sell a start up? Within a couple of years if you take the example of Freeup’s recent acquisition by Greensill, a subsidiary of Softbank. Established in 2018 to provide an ethical alternative to pay day loans, the...
Continue readingThe Future is AI Sitting with an SME client this week I was pleasantly surprised to hear them talk about their burgeoning AI initiatives. This also coincided with an ICAEW publication landing on my desk – AI in Corporate Advisory, so even we are not...
Continue readingBrexit, Exchange Rates and the Impact on M&A At the time of the referendum the GBP/USD exchange rate was c.$1.45 to the pound. This fell overnight to below $1.35 and has since varied between $1.2 and $1.4. The recent low of $1.20 was last touched...
Continue readingThis week we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landing. There is now a NASA programme, Artemis, to get back on the moon by 2024, so perhaps now is a good time to consider investment in the Space Sector. Though space...
Continue readingThere has been a lot of talk about the Woodford Equity Income Fund following the decision to temporarily prevent clients from removing their funds. Whilst the performance of the fund does not appear to have been great, the primary issue is really one of liquidity....
Continue readingAn interview in CRN Channelweb caught my eye last week. It was from the MD of a £23m Managed Service Provider and he was bemoaning the fact that too many sellers are coming to market with unrealistic expectations of their value. As a narrative this...
Continue readingValuation Valuation is, at least in part, an art not a science. That much is proved by the share price of the recently IPO’d Zoom Video Communications. Zoom provides video conferencing, a market that seems to have been talked about for ever, yet the share...
Continue readingLies, damn lies and statistics? Well the Office for National Statistics, the UK’s pre-eminent source of statistical data, released their Q4 2018 M&A data earlier this month. Overall the position is positive from a value perspective: Inward M&A in the final quarter was the highest...
Continue readingRecent statistics published by the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances (IMAA) for 2018 show that the number of deals increased by 4%. This placed the UK in 17th place globally in terms of growth – well above the US and France. Looking at sectors,...
Continue readingWe frequently have discussions with Tech owner-managers about the prospects of being bought by an overseas buyer. Conversations often stem from something that has been said (or all too frequently, ‘told’) to them about a pool of such parties waiting to get their hands on...
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