Member Article

Cobbetts dealmaking gets firm off the flying start

Sean Fitzgerald, partner and head of corporate at Cobbetts.

The corporate team at Manchester law firm Cobbetts are celebrating a strong start to the year, having completed on average more than one deal a week.

Led by partner Sean Fitzgerald, the team has completed 25 transactions during the first five months of the year.

The deals include the sale of Stag Security Services to the UK arm of South African facilities management giant, Servest, and the MBO of Warrington-based Integrated Engineering Stores Associates (IESA), backed by a £23m investment from Gresham Private Equity.

Sean commented: “The regional M&A market remains difficult and looks set to stay that way for some time, so advisers can’t afford to wait for deals to land on their laps.

“It is more important than ever for advisers to be proactive and identify opportunities for their clients.

“Buyers are now much more selective, with corporates looking for assets that can add real value to their business and equity houses scouring the market for the most promising growth opportunities than can deliver sizeable returns.

“The advisers that will prosper will be those that can help solve these problems and fulfill their ‘dealmaker’ role, not just advise on the deals themselves.”

Commenting on Cobbetts’ role in IESA’s Gresham Private Equity-backed MBO, COO of IESA Jon Davidson, said: “We were very impressed with the professional approach adopted by Cobbetts.

“The methods they adopted simplified the whole process and enabled us to quickly deal with the main issues. Their advice and experience were invaluable, and well measured.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .