23rd October 2008, MEN Arena, Manchester

Headline Sponsor:

Slideshow of pictures from the night now online!

Video footage from the night

Over 800 of the region's most influential business people celebrated the biggest and best deals of 2008, with Rick Wakeman heading the guest list and Jon Moulton, founder of Alchemy who gave hiw own particularly gloomy outlook on today's financial msrkets. 

The evening was a spectacular success - but don't just take our word for it....

"Absolutely awesome..... best professional event in Manchester for years.....   well done!!!" - Darryl Cooke, Partner,
Corporate Finance, Hill Dickinson LLP

"Having attended countless events over the last 20 years that I have been immersed in the corporate finance community, I can truly say that the deals dinner was a paradigm shift in the thinking of what can be achieved in terms of scale and quality of North West events. The environment was breath-taking and unique, and the majority of elements within the event worked extremely effectively keeping a pace and rhythm throughout that captivated the audience valuing entertainment over tradition. This should raise the bar for all future events. Well played by all the team." - Mike Perls, MD, MC2

Darrell Matthews, Regional Director of the Institute of Directors North West said: “Excel has pulled off a brave attempt at a distinctive, high quality event. The Rock Star theme carried through and was a lot of fun, as a backdrop to the more serious issue of the EN Deals of The Year Awards ceremony. Our table enjoyed the event, and we send our congratulations to all involved on making the night one of the highlights of the year.”

"The scale and quality of this event was tremendous. Congratulations to EN for having the hindsight to use such an ingenious and innovative venue - and to the MEN Arena for getting it right on the night. The combination meant that the audience were fully engaged during the whole of the evening and as a Sponsor we certainly felt as though the event provided value for money." Deborah Ascott-Jones, Director of Communications, Pannone LLP

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The categories

Equity House of the Year
Shortlist:

• ENDLESS
• BANK OF SCOTLAND INTEGRATED FINANCE
• BARCLAYS VENTURES
• LLOYDS TSB DEVELOPMENT CAPITAL (LDC) - winners

With investments like Kids Unlimited and lucrative exits including the £73.5 million sale of ATP, LDC has proved itself once again a serious backer of the North West market – and a judicious one too.

Best Technology Deal
Shortlist:

• B3 CABLES/ASTON VENTURES - ACQUISITION OF NEXANS’ SPANISH OPERATION
• JON BURTON – SALE OF TT GAMES TO WARNER BROS
• RICHARD BEATON/INFLEXION/YFM - SALE OF TEKTON TO SAGE - winners
• PAUL AND JUSTIN YATES – SALE OF JUST SEARCH TO GETUPDATED

A beautifully-timed deal that saw founder Richard Beaton, his private equity partner Inflexion, and the rest of the shareholders achieve a great price for a software business that specialises in the housebuilder market, from a buyer with the resources to develop the company in the long term.

Best Deal Under £20m
Shortlist:

• DELTA FLUID PRODUCTS SALE  TO CRANE LIMITED
• NCC GROUP ACQUISITION OF ESCROW EUROPE
• ELAINE MCPHERSON ACQUISITION OF ETHEL AUSTIN - winner
• VITAFLO REFINANCING/RECAPITALISATION

270-or so value fashion shops with a well-respected brand and local high street locations. £150 million turnover. No debt. No other investors. And all for a few million quid. Enough said.

Best Deal £20m-£100m
Shortlist:

• MULITIPART MANAGEMENT - MBO FROM IMPERIAL HOLDINGS
• CROWN PAINTS MANAGEMENT – MBO FROM AKZO NOBEL
• LATITUDE (DYLAN THWAITES & MANAGEMENT) – MBO
• DAWN GIBBINS – SALE OF FLOWCRETE TO RPM INTERNATIONAL - winners

Another fabulously-timed deal, and a good price too for Dawn Gibbins’s flooring business. A worthy winner.

Best deal over £100m
Shortlist:

• MARTIN, JAMES AND BRENDAN AINSCOUGH – SALE OF AINSCOUGH CRANE HIRE - winners
• WARWICK INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT – MBO FROM SEQUA INTERNATIONAL
• JON BURTON – SALE OF TT GAMES TO WARNER BROS
• ANDREW TINKLER & WILLIAM STOBART – REVERSE TAKEOVER OF EDDIE STOBART BY WESTBURY

To sell a construction equipment firm for 25 times earnings would be enough in itself to win an award like this. But add the fact the Ainscough brothers retained the company’s properties, which they now lease back to the business they sold, and, frankly, you’re looking at a contender for deal of the decade. Very, very well-deserved.

Banker of the Year
Shortlist:

• TONY DEAN - RBS - winner
• MARK BLOWER - LLOYDS TSB
• PAUL SHEPHARD - YORKSHIRE BANK
• ALAN BROWN - BARCLAYS

Tony Dean is still the daddy – whatever might have been going on at head office. The department he heads has been one of the most active in the region over the last year and backed some lovely deals including Warwick International, Character World and BWA Water Additives.

Corporate Financier of the Year
Shortlist:

• ANDY WESTBROOK, DELOITTE - winner
• ELAINE O’DONNELL, ERNST & YOUNG
• FRANK HERLIHY, DOW SCHOFIELD WATTS
• DERMOT GARVEY, CHADWICK

Advising on everything from the MBOs of Crown Paints and Direct Group to the sales of ATP and Bank Fashion, Andrew has been at the heart of some of the region’s most significant deals this year. And that’s without mentioning the £125 million refinancing he managed to pull off for Urban Splash as recently as June. Very well done indeed.

Lawyer of the Year
Shortlist:

• JONATHAN WATKINS - DLA PIPER - winner
• JANE O'SULLIVAN - HILL DICKINSON
• EDWARD PYSDEN - EVERSHEDS
• TONY HARPER - BRABNERS CHAFFE STREET

One of the most active lawyers on the corporate scene this year, the deals on which Jonathan has acted include the Crown Paints MBO, JJB’s sale of Soccerdome, the MBO of Training for Travel and the £60 million sale of haulage firm James Irlam & Sons to the Stobart group. A very well-deserved winner.

Venture Capitalist of the Year
Shortlist:

• WARWICK LEY, ENDLESS
• GARY TIPPER, ZEUS PRIVATE EQUITY
• ANDY LEES, BARCLAYS VENTURES - winner
• RAY STENTON, LDC

With his backing of Howorth Airtech, KDC and JBMI Andy has proved himself not only to be an active investor at a time when others have been sitting on their hand, but a prudent one too – backing non-cyclical investments. Very well done.

Dealmaker of the Year 2008

The shortlist for this award is made up from the best banker, corporate financier, lawyer and VC of 2008

• BANKER: Tony Dean - Royal Bank of Scotland - winner
• CORPORATE FINANCIER: Andy Westbrrok - Deloitte
• LAWYER: Jonathan Watkins - DLA Piper
• VENTURE CAPITALIST: Andy Lees - Barclays Ventures

Tony Dean continues to bestride the North West like a corporate finance colossus. It’s not just the size and volume of the deals he backed this year – it’s their quality. The sectors of the deals he led are as close to recession-proof as they come. Ambitious yet sensible lending – truly a banker for our times.

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