PLC Advisory Team Expands

Livingstone Partners continues to expand its PLC Advisory Team and offer more clients the opportunity to reap the rewards available, thanks to the wealth of experience it possesses in public transactions.

When it comes to advising on public company transactions, historically the brokers leading the deal have tended to offer a strong corporate finance specialism, but often at the expense of an real M&A focus. As a result companies have often been denied important benefits associated with the transaction such as proprietary deal flow and hands-on transaction execution.

But help is on the way, as Livingstone Partners continues to expand its PLC Advisory Team and offer more clients the opportunity to reap the rewards available, thanks to the wealth of experience it possesses in public transactions.

Advice on public company transactions has tended to be led by brokers with a corporate finance capability, but little or no 'hardcore' M&A focus. Companies’ ability to benefit from proprietary deal flow or hands-on transaction execution from such advisers has therefore been limited - until now….with the continuing expansion of Livingstone’s PLC Advisory Team.

As Livingstone continues to grow, so too does the breadth and depth of our deal makers’s expertise. The addition of Partner Richard Fetterman almost three years ago from KPMG Corporate Finance saw us acquire an experienced practitioner in the public company takeover arena. Subsequent hires have added significantly to this capability and now we are delighted to have recruited Richard Barlow as a Senior Consultant.

Dick brings over 25 years’ experience of dealing with quoted companies over the complete range of corporate finance transactions. He has led many City Code and other M&A deals, as well as a multitude of IPOs, rights issues and placings. After an initial career with defence and electronics group The Plessey Company, Dick spent 17 years with Dresdner Kleinwort Benson before joining KPMG Corporate Finance’s Quoted Companies Group in 1999, where he worked with Richard Fetterman for 7 years.

Richard Fetterman comments, "It is a privilege to be reunited with such an experienced public company adviser as Dick. The Livingstone team is excited at the prospect of enhancing further its advisory offering and to leverage Dick's huge bank of experience as well as his enthusiasm for delivering results that those familiar with the Livingstone ‘way’ will recognise and welcome.”

Added Dick Barlow, “I am thrilled to be working with the Livingstone team and looking forward to building on the great relationships that the firm already has with many UK and international quoted groups. The PLC advisory market remains wide open for a quality house like Livingstone that is totally committed to the small- and mid-cap sector. From experience, the combination of our proprietary deal flow as a focused M&A house and the team’s proven PLC technical expertise should be very powerful for listed groups with a mandate to acquire or divest.”

Richard and Dick are joined in the PLC Advisory Team by Partners Jeremy Furniss and Simon Cope-Thompson.

Livingstone’s PLC Advisory Team has a clear focus on advising on the full spectrum of public company M&A transactions. We focus on delivering practical advice and solutions in four key scenarios:

  • Providing Rule 3 advice to boards in receipt of a welcome takeover approach;
  • Advising senior management and financial investors on public-to-private transactions, with an emphasis on small- and mid-cap companies;
  • Assisting PLCs in the sale of 'orphan' assets as the result of a strategic divestment programme; and
  • Working with PLC management to approach, structure and negotiate 'bolt-on' acquisitions, in particularly leveraging Livingstone's US and European office infrastructure.

For further information on the PLC Advisory Team please contact:
 

Richard Fetterman
D: 020 7484 4739
E: rfetterman@livingstonepartners.co.uk

Dick Barlow
D: 020 7484 4700
E: rbarlow@livingstonepartners.co.uk

Jeremy Furniss
D: 020 7484 4703
E: jfurniss@livingstonepartners.co.uk

Simon Cope-Thompson
D: 020 7484 4706
E: sct@livingstonepartners.co.uk