Inform Magazine

A RECORD YEAR

H1 2023 brought us to the end of a record financial year at KBS Corporate, in terms of both the number of deals completed and the value of transaction fees generated. Amid a variety of economic factors, K3 Capital, our group’s parent company, maintained its post-COVID momentum and was subsequently acquired by Sun European Partners, a subsidiary of US-based private equity firm Sun Capital, in a £270million deal. Under Sun’s leadership, we expect further expansion and development of our growth plan which has seen our wider group’s revenue increase from circa £10million in 2017 to over £85million. At the core of our success is a talented team that has triumphed over the past 12 months. Business sales across our Operations department are driven by personnel capable of exceeding expectations and realising professional goals. Tom Eatough, KBS Corporate Director, celebrated over a decade with the business by surpassing several milestones and elsewhere, Matthew Sibley was rewarded for his longevity and loyalty as he was promoted to Associate Director. Matthew continues to support the wider deal team and demonstrate considerable resilience through transactions — proving to be a real credit to KBS. And it is not just our dealmakers who have progressed over the last financial year. Our Research department has been in discussions with more active buyers than ever before, and our talented team of document writers continue to develop and enhance our marketing literature. Despite concerns about the direction inflation is taking the economy, we are still delighted with the level of M&A activity we are observing — there is capital out there and we know the acquirers looking to invest. Throughout H1 2023, we were crowned the UK's leading business sales adviser by deal volume by both Refinitv and Experian, with the former also naming us Europe's leading firm. KBS is well into its 2023 – 24 financial year and is striving for another record-breaking 12 months. We have already overseen substantial deals for businesses such as Clarke Banks, Serene Stone and Fuel Learning. We are confident that KBS will complete another large volume of deals over the next year and remain on the trajectory that has driven our continuing success.

PETER KELLY, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, KBS CORPORATE

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