Dow Schofield Watts Transaction Services is celebrating its 10th anniversary as it continues to expand its team.
Starting out with just three members in Daresbury in November 2008, the team now numbers 14 across the North West, Leeds and London. Recent appointments have included Alex Hill in Leeds and Will Baker in London. Meanwhile demand from clients has remained strong despite the current lower levels of activity in the deals market.
DSWTS advised on 17 deals in the three months to the end of November. Transactions spanned a range of sectors, with deal sizes from £1m to £25m and clients including private equity firms, banks and corporates.
Notable private equity deals include Beech Tree Private Equity’s investment in BCN Group, Rockpool’s investment in online retailer Primrose and the acquisitions of Rock Seven Mobile Services and YB Tracking by Horizon Capital’s portfolio company Wireless Innovation. Corporate acquisitions also remained strong, with DSW Transaction Services acting on multiple transactions with Kinaxia Logistics, environmental consultancy firm RSK, and Just Childcare.
Ed Brentnall, one of the three original members and who jointly heads DSW Transaction Services with Catriona Lang and Nicola Merritt, said the firm had a healthy deals pipeline going into 2019, despite the uncertainty in the market.
He added: “Looking back to ten years ago, it was a brave decision to give up our previous jobs at big four firms to launch a new venture in the immediate wake of the financial crash. In that first year we completed no deals at all! However, it has proved to be the best decision we ever made.
“The challenging market conditions in which we started meant we had to develop a truly differentiated product and this, plus the quality of our team, has been the backbone of our success. The team, and the wider firm, has gone from strength to strength, winning numerous awards and is now firmly established ourselves as a leading independent mid-market advisory team. We are looking forward to the next ten years!”
