Betfair have acquired Portway Press Limited, which trades as Timeform. Timeform is a world-renowned brand publishing horseracing ratings, form guides and analysis. The company, founded by Phil Bull in 1948, is an essential source of reference for racing enthusiasts and is used daily by the sport’s professionals and punters. Operating from its Halifax base, Timeform … Continued

By J A McGrath Betfair, the betting industry’s most successful exchange, are to buy Timeform in an estimated £15m deal expected to be completed next week. The move to acquire Halifax-based Portway Press Ltd, which publishes Timeform and other related racing publications, by the company that has revolutionised betting in this country and beyond in … Continued

Towergate has completed its purchase of Paymentshield. Under the terms of the deal, Paymentshield will remain an independent business. It now becomes a sister company of Towergate Partnership, Europe’s largest independently owned insurance intermediary. This follows the management buy-in in 2004 led by Paymentshield’s chief executive offficer, Stuart Pender. The deal represents a successful exit … Continued

The contrasting fortunes of two recently concluded local management buy-outs (MBOs) couldn’t be greater. Around 100 senior managers at Tilney Investment Management, based in the Royal Liver Building, shared a reported £350m windfall with private equity backer Bridgepoint Capital two weeks ago when Germany’s Deutsche Bank acquired their firm. Tilney’s managers appear to have done … Continued

A Warrington recruitment specialist honoured for its rapid growth has changed hands in a £24m management buyout. Parasol employs an 80-strong customer support team at its Centre Court offices dealing with more than 15,000 self-employed professionals and 2,500 recruitment agencies covering the IT, engineering, medical and education sectors. Founding partner Rob Crossland, who remains as … Continued

Big disposals dominate Dealmakers list Some big ticket disposals have dominated the shortlist for the 2006 Dealmakers Awards to be held for the first time at the Manchester International Convention Centre next Wednesday, 18 October. Dealmakers is often dominated by big private equity investments but the emphasis in 2006 is very much on the successful … Continued

St Helens showed Business Editor Bill Gleeson why they are no longer sport’s poor relations. Rugby League is probably the second most popular sport in the north of England. But for years it has been the poor relation to association football – partly because the main fan base has been largely in relatively small towns … Continued

A company which owns holiday parks in one of Lancashire’s top beauty spots has been snapped up by an investment giant. Legal and General Ventures, the private equity arm of the national insurance firm, has acquired South Lakeland Caravans Ltd in a deal believed to be worth in excess of £100m. The group owns nine … Continued

Drinks all round Soft drink supplier Cabana Drinks, part of Vimto maker Nichols in Newton-le-Willows, has sold its northern distributorship in a management buyout backed by a £500,000 package from GE Commercial Finance. Cabana managing director Terry Bates, who has run the business for seven years, and his wife have bought the distributorship through a … Continued

A man who has helped seal some of Lancashire’s biggest deals is returning to the county – on a mission to seal some more. Craig Richardson was the finance advisor who oversaw the management buy-out of National Tyre Services, helped Ribble Valley conservatory manufacturer Ultraframe float on the stock market and secured two multi-million pound … Continued

A leading Yorkshire laser cutting company, which produces components ranging from ice skates to military armour plating, has moved out of family ownership for the first time following a buy-in management buy-out (BIMBO). Sheffield-based Mayflower Technology specialises in laser cutting, pressing, machining, welding and fabricating metals and other materials. Founded in 1995, the £20m turnover … Continued

Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF) has backed a multi-million pound transaction which will bring one of the UK’s leading systems integration companies, Jade Communications, to Merseyside. Jade Communications specialises in the provision of end-to-end network solutions, operating within the areas of wireless and hand-held solutions, LAN, deployment services and structured cabling. The £4m funding package … Continued

Simon Wells, Business Finance Director GE Commercial Finance “Our highlight in deal terms in 2005 was an introduction from Dow Schofield Watts of an MBO of a supplier to the aerospace industry. The opportunity was created by the retiring shareholders leaving some equity and we provided a £6.5 million funding package to include leveraging receivables, … Continued