Inform Magazine

EXCITING TIMES AHEAD

“These are exciting times - we have a growing portfolio of clients and a growing team to deliver our trusted service to them.”

hilst the M&A market has created a challenging environment over the last 12 months, there is a very strong, positive ethos across the whole of KBS Corporate’s Operations team. We remain the leading performer for company sales activity in the UK and now hold the No 1 spot in Europe.

PETER KELLY OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Our first full year under the ownership of Sun Capital demonstrated a lot of growth across all disciplines of the business. The number of M&A deals in the UK fell last year but at KBS Corporate we were still able to outperform the market. An increased cost of borrowing and enhanced financial due diligence undertaken by lenders has led to buyers being more selective about which companies they will acquire or at least pursue to develop their interest. Understanding buyers’ needs and their specific criteria has become more relevant, so the collaboration across the Operations division between the deal leaders, our researchers and our copywriters is imperative - to make sure we know what buyers are looking for and that we present our clients in the right way, giving them the best opportunity to sell. On the back of the resurgence in the M&A market at the start of 2024, with worldwide M&A activity up 18% in H1 (source: LSEG), we feel we are in a very strong position to springboard into FY25 in terms of the number of deals we complete and the income we will generate. We have a record pipeline of deals that have been agreed and are anticipated to be completed in the next three to six months, supporting the optimism we have. Along with the other members of K3 Capital Group, at KBS Corporate we cover the whole of the company sales market. Our view of the softening of economic conditions and potential reduction in interest rates means there is becoming an increased appetite for M&A activity. Many corporate acquirers and Private Equity funds have capital to utilise and, as such, we are excited about what the next 12 months will bring us.

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