Beanstalk Corporate Finance Company Blog

Beanstalk Management shows Seek4Commerce the way

2012-01-10T13:36:00.000Z

Beanstalk Management, the award winning corporate finance advisory, today announced the successful completion of an engagement with Seek4Commerce Limited, the e-commerce services provider.

Read the full press release here

Everything Legal divestiture – read our latest case study

2012-01-09T11:49:00.000Z

Beanstalk Management acts as the exclusive corporate finance advisor to Everything Legal in its sale to DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company Limited.

Read more in our latest corporate finance case study

Beanstalk Management Victorious at Prestigious ACQ Country Awards 2011

2012-01-05T09:12:00.000Z

Beanstalk Management, the boutique corporate finance advisory, today announced its success at the highly influential ACQ Country Awards 2011, receiving the title of corporate finance advisory team of the year.

Read the full press release here

Beanstalk Management Secures Successful Acquisition of Everything Legal

2011-11-29T09:47:00.000Z

Beanstalk Management, the boutique corporate finance advisory, today announced that it acted as the exclusive advisor to Everything Legal in its sale to DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company Limited.

Read the full press release here

Think Tank: the vital importance of having a good exit plan

2011-11-28T09:38:00.002Z

The for-sale signs could soon be going up on a raft of lean and mean mid-sized companies around the UK.

That's the view, at least, of corporate finance experts. A backlog has built up since 2008, and with large companies and private equity firms sitting on piles of cash that they now want to deploy, Christmas could come early for many founders nearing retirement.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/management-advice/8884947/Think-Tank-the-vital-importance-of-having-a-good-exit-plan.html

Anatomy of an (un)fundable startup

2011-07-21T14:31:00.000+01:00

People spend a surprising amount of time on things that will contribute little or no value to getting them to a seed round. The keynote from Naval and Mark Suster recently at the 7th Founder Showcase presents the issues: http://venturehacks.com/articles/unfundable-startup?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+venturehacks+%28Venture+Hacks%29

EDF EN GREECE, awarded the construction of a 1,1 MWp photovoltaic park in Greece to the EPC Contractor Positive Energy

2011-07-14T12:28:00.000+01:00

EDF EN GREECE, a subsidiary of EDF EN Group, awarded Positive Energy, a long standing client of Beanstalk Management, the supply of equipment, project design and construction of a 1,1 MWp photovoltaic park in the Prefecture of Fokida, Greece. The operation of the plant will have substantial environmental benefits reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 1,500 tons per year, similar to the amount which is produced by a 35,000-tree forest via photosynthesis each year.

As Positive Energy CEO Mr. K. Mavros emphasized: “We are especially pleased to include in our portfolio one more important project. We highly value our relationship with EDF EN GREECE, which puts to practice through its dynamic investment initiatives the corporation’s faith and trust in Greece’s prospects for growth; through the proper exploitation of the country’s inexhaustible natural resources. We aim to become the partner of choice for multinational companies and investors acting in the Greek and Southeastern renewable energy markets.”

Leading Corporate Finance Advisor, Beanstalk Management, assists Redeem Holdings acquire B2B Recycler Environmental Mobile Control (EMC)

2011-07-05T10:18:00.000+01:00

Beanstalk Management, the leading corporate finance advisor, has successfully assisted Redeem Holdings acquire B2B recycler EMC. Beanstalk has drawn on its unique expertise to complete commercial due diligence work on behalf of Redeem Holdings.

Read the PR in full here.

Private equity exits smash record

2011-07-04T17:45:00.000+01:00

The exit market is soaring as private equity firms sell an unprecedented number of companies, with a record 309 sales worth more than $120bn (€82.6bn) sealed in the second quarter.

http://realdeals.eu.com/mega_market/private-equity-exits-smash-record-

Beanstalk Corporate Finance Advisory Names as a Finalist in Prestigious M&A Awards

2011-06-09T14:05:00.000+01:00

Beanstalk Corporate Finance Advisory has been named as one of the finalists in the UK’s prestigious M&A Awards in the category of Corporate Finance Boutique of the Year.

Read the full PR here.

Positive Energy Completes Construction of 2MWp PV Park in Greece

2011-05-25T14:45:00.000+01:00

Positive Energy, one of the largest EPC Contractors in Southeast Europe, completed for the company Solar Gate, the construction of a 2ΜWp photovoltaic park in the Prefecture of Lakonia in Greece. The operation of the plant will have substantial environmental benefits including the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2,600 tons per year. This is the same amount of carbon dioxide that would be removed from the atmosphere each year by a forest of 130,000 trees via photosynthesis. Positive Energy was the main EPC contractor being responsible for the project design, the supply of equipment and the construction of the project.

On behalf of Positive Energy, Mr. Konstantinos Mavros, CEO of the Company, stated: “We are very pleased to announce today the completion of this important project. The Greek PV market is rapidly growing with more than 150 GWp installed in 2010 and 80 MWp installed within the first quarter of 2011 which can lead to annual market of 300-350 MWp. Greece has set ambitious PV targets for 2020 and we are more than happy that our large project portfolio is a valuable contribution to the market’s continuous development.”.

On behalf of Solar Gate, Mr. Stelios Georgioudakis, CEO of the Company, stated: “We are very happy to announce today the completion of our project not only for its investment profits but also for its significant social and environmental benefits. We saw—and still see—great potentials for the Greek PV sector in the coming years and given this opportunity I would like to encourage investors to proceed with their investments within the Country.”

Osborne's Budget excites VCTs

2011-03-29T23:04:00.000+01:00

Chancellor George Osborne has delighted venture capital trust (VCT) and enterprise investment scheme (EIS) managers with a generous package of reforms.

http://realdeals.eu.com/mid_market/osbornes-budget-excites-vcts

It’s grim up north for UK startups, but things are changing

2011-03-29T21:45:00.000+01:00

Mention the UK technology startup scene to anyone outside the country and they’ll probably think of London’s vibrant scene around the Old Street roundabout, or maybe clusters in places like Cambridge, or at a push the northeast of England around Newcastle. One area that won’t get a look-in is the northwest.

The full article by Martin Bryant can be found at:
http://thenextweb.com/uk/2011/03/26/its-grim-up-north-for-uk-startups-but-things-are-changing/

How to make an exit

2011-03-08T21:08:00.000Z

Failing to plan is planning to fail – and that's particularly true of exiting your business. Here's how to achieve the best exit:

http://realbusiness.co.uk/advice_and_guides/how_to_make_an_exit

A strategic partnership between Piraeus Private Equity and Positive Energy for the installation of photovoltaic systems on rooftops in Greece

2011-03-08T12:36:00.000Z

Piraeus Equity Partners, a company of Piraeus Bank Group, and Positive Energy entered into a strategic partnership aimed at implementing an investment program for the installation of photovoltaic systems on industrial rooftops. Piraeus Equity Partners together with its subsidiary, Piraeus Equity Advisors, are the private equity investment branch of Piraeus Bank Group. Positive Energy is one of the leading EPC providers in Renewable Energy Sources solutions in Southeastern Europe.

The first phase of this cooperation is the installation of two 1MWp photovoltaic systems on industrial rooftops in Northern Greece, and is currently the largest photovoltaic project to be implemented on industrial rooftops. The construction of the project has been undertaken by Positive Energy, which builds turnkey photovoltaic projects and has a significant project portfolio throughout Greece. By implementing an ambitious investment plan and through its private equity company, Piraeus Bank Group, strengthens its significant contribution towards “green” and sustainable development through fund-related investments.

-------------------------

Positive Energy is a long term client of Beanstalk Management.

Beanstalk's Q1 2011 Newsletter

2011-03-04T07:44:00.001Z

Welcome to Beanstalk's first newsletter of 2011. An exclusive digest of the latest Beanstalk news and corporate advisory perspectives.

In this issue we:

- Discuss trends in the lower mid-market technology sector
- Summarise Beanstalk's recent transactions
- Review our shortlisting for the international M&A Awards held in New York

We hope you'll find this newsletter relevant, informative and engaging. Let us know what you think and we'll make sure we're covering the news and advice you want to hear about.

Read the full Q1 2011 newsletter.

Solaria Supplying Modules For Positive Energy's PV Projects

2011-03-03T12:18:00.000Z

Solaria Energia Medio Ambiente SA has signed a strategic agreement to supply 12.5 MW of solar modules for various PV projects in Greece. The new facilities will be jointly developed with Positive Energy, an Athens-based company in the energy business and a long term client of Beanstalk Management.

http://solarindustrymag.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.7380

Matrix pulls VCTs as UK solar FIT remains in doubt

2011-02-28T09:46:00.000Z

Investment specialist Matrix has pulled its two recently launched clean energy venture capital trusts (VCT) as fears remain that the UK government may withdraw its support for solar installations above 50kW.

http://www.newenergyworldnetwork.com/renewable-energy-news/by-technology/solar/matrix-pulls-vcts-as-uk-solar-fit-remains-in-doubt.html

Leading Corporate Finance Advisor, Beanstalk Management, assists with the acquisition of Redeem Ltd

2011-02-09T13:04:00.000Z

Beanstalk Management, the leading corporate finance advisor, has successfully assisted with the management buy-in (MBI) of Redeem Ltd. Beanstalk has drawn on its unique expertise to complete commercial due diligence work on behalf of the new management team and their investors. The MBI team is led by Curt Hopkins and Pete Petrondas who have invested in the deal with backing from private equity investor Trevor Bayley, one of the founding partners of HgCapital, who will be non-executive Chairman.

Solar subsidy 'to be protected'

2011-01-31T09:47:00.000Z

The government has pledged it will act if commercial operators rush to exploit a subsidy aimed at encouraging homeowners to generate their own solar electricity:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/business-12309854

Javier Herrero Blog Post - how can a renewable energy developer break the chains...

2011-01-25T11:44:00.000Z

How can a renewable energy developer break the chains and provide more value, getting a bigger piece of the project pie? From PLA to financial closure to EPC and O&M. How can it be done?

Renewable Energy developer’s major problem is getting from PLA to financial closing on its own, that is the point at which the developer will receive money for all its efforts and the project begins construction. When you reach this stage developers are faced with a painful decision; sell the PLA for a song and a dance or go for a larger gain by completing the development work.

http://jherrerosdc.typepad.com/jhsdc/2010/11/how-can-a-renewable-energy-developer-break-the-chains-and-provide-more-value-getting-a-bigger-piece-.html

Positive Energy Corporate Video

2011-01-25T11:35:00.001Z

The video produced by Positive Energy provides an insight into the Athens based EPC contractor and some of their current projects.

View their corporate video here http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1705167661833

Ben Horowitz's Blog Post - four things some VCs do that I don't like

2011-01-20T09:59:00.000Z

Ben Horowitz:

After being an entrepreneur for most of my adult life, I’ve now been a part-time angel investor for 5 years and a full-time venture capitalist for the past 9 months. During that time, I’ve come to appreciate the real value that great venture capitalists provide: amazing informational awareness, comprehensive business networks, providing brand cover for companies so that they can recruit and raise more money effectively, and more.

Still, some VCs do things that I really don’t like. This post is for them

http://bhorowitz.com/2010/04/13/four-things-some-vcs-do-that-i-dont-like/

Long-standing Beanstalk Corporate Finance client, Positive Energy, Recognized as one of the Strongest Companies in Greece

2011-01-12T11:41:00.001Z

During ICAP Group's recent evaluation of Greek businesses Positive Energy received a high rating score and joined the Community of the "Strongest Companies in Greece" - distinguishing it as one of the most powerful companies in the region. Positive Energy is a subsidiary of a large group of companies with a strong financial infrastructure and more than 20 years of experience in the implementation of large scale technology projects in southeastern Europe. ICAP's recognition will further facilitate Positive Energy's business transactions in and outside of Greece as it is recognizes the company's credit worthiness. Only one in ten companies in Greece meet the required criteria to be included in the community of "Strongest Companies".

Beanstalk assist Spring Ventures with their acquisition of Supply 999 and Todd Research

2011-01-05T16:02:00.001Z

Beanstalk Corporate Finance has assisted Spring Ventures LLP to acquire Supply 999 Limited - a transaction which was announced on 23 December 2010.

John Hudson, of Spring Ventures LLP commented, "Beanstalk developed a comprehensive business plan for Todd Research Limited on behalf of Spring Ventures during our acquisition of Supply 999 Limited. Beanstalk's consulting-led approach combined with their corporate finance expertise was exactly what we needed to help us understand the commercial potential of Todd Research. Beanstalk worked in a timely and professional manner and went the extra mile to ensure their work was of the highest standard."

More information on the acquisition on our corporate website.

The ROI Of Software-As-A-Service White Paper

2011-01-04T09:17:00.000Z

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offers a pay as you go model for IT services. Some firms question the long-term value of SaaS, wondering if the rent-versus-own model has a cost crossover point and if so, when? This report from research company Forrester examines client decisions across a range of software-as-a-service (SaaS) and three factors that determine its return on investment.

http://www.information-age.com/surveys/1252698/the-roi-of-softwareasaservice.thtml

Beanstalk Speaks at The Greek PV Market: Challenges and Opportunities Symposium

2010-12-14T14:07:00.000Z

Beanstalk Corporate Finance Advisory founder, Matthew Byatt, spoke at The Greek PV Market: Challenges and Opportunities Symposium which took place at the Athenaeum Intercontinental in Athens on 2nd December 2010. The event was attended by over 100 senior executives and banking professionals.

Matthew’s presentation entitled, Photovoltaic Investment in Greece – Europe’s Solar Secret examined what European project financiers are looking for a photovoltaic investment and he will discuss how Greece is meeting those needs.

The presentation is available on request.

A Silicon Bubble Shows Signs of Reinflating

2010-12-09T17:32:00.001Z

The enthusiasm for social networking and mobile apps has venture capitalists clamoring to give money to young companies:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/a-silicon-bubble-shows-signs-of-reinflating/

Beanstalk to speak at The Greek PV Market: Challenges and Opportunities symposium taking place in Athens on 2nd December 2010

2010-11-29T18:11:00.000Z

Beanstalk Corporate Finance Advisory founder, Matthew Byatt, will be speaking at The Greek PV Market: Challenges and Opportunities symposium taking place at the Athenaeum Intercontinental in Athens on 2nd December 2010.

Matthew’s presentation entitled, Photovoltaic Investment in Greece – Europe’s Solar Secret will examine what European project financiers are looking for a photovoltaic investment and he will discuss how Greece is meeting those needs. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session and general discussion.

Tech map of Britain: Cambridge

2010-11-22T08:25:00.000Z

Some of the most innovative and influential technology companies in the country are based in Cambridge according to the Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/technology-companies/8018680/Tech-map-of-Britain-Cambridge.html

Platina Partners has acquired a group of 10 photovoltaic projects from Italian EPC provider

2010-11-19T10:24:00.000Z

European private equity firm Platina Partners has acquired a group of ten photovoltaic parks from an Italian EPC provider.

Combining 10MWp, these solar plants in Puglia in southern Italy are all due to be connected to the grid by the end of the year.

The deal is part of a drive by the firm to assemble a portfolio of European renewable energy generation projects, and represents the twelfth investment from the European Renewable Energy Fund, which Platina closed in March.

Since Platina was established in 2002, it has invested in a combined construction and operational portfolio of around 400MWp.

Large-cap buyout houses have moved into the mid-market with increasing pricing pressure

2010-11-18T12:04:00.000Z

Large-cap private equity firms have moved into the mid-market since the start of the credit crunch, new research shows. PE are scaling down the size of their investments in the face of debt constraints.

In the 3 years since the credit crunch started, the activity levels of large-cap European PE groups in the mid-market has increased by 72 per cent when compared to the 3years prior, according to research by DC Advisory Partners.

The average percentage of primary transactions executed by large-cap private equity groups that were below £500m (€585.2m) in the three years prior to the credit crunch was 29 per cent. In the three years since 2007 this figure has risen to 50 per cent.

In spite of deal volume returning to pre-crunch levels, the modal average value of large-cap investments has dropped from £500m in 2008 to £250m in 2010.

"Many of these large-cap private equity groups originate from the mid-market and so are going back to valuation territory they know well. Competition is fierce to invest current funds ahead of the next fundraising cycle. To date the mid-market has proven to be an excellent market for the large-cap private equity houses. But competition is hotting up and value expectations for the best, and particularly the most scalable assets, remains high,” said DC’s Simon Tilley, head of financial sponsors coverage at the firm.

Tilley added that he expects the upward pricing trend that is being witnessed to continue in 2011.

Beanstalk corporate finance advisory named as a finalist in prestigious international M&A award

2010-10-27T13:17:00.000+01:00

Beanstalk corporate finance advisory has been named as one of the finalists in the prestigious international M&A Advisor Awards in the category of Lower Middle Market Deal of the Year.

The award winners will be revealed at the 9th Annual M&A Awards Gala and Summit at the New York Athletic Club in New York City on 14 December 2010.

Thames Valley M&A stays afloat

2010-10-18T12:50:00.000+01:00

The Thames Valley is the UK's heartland of technological innovation, incorporating the towns of Oxford, Reading and Guildford. In the first half of this year the region saw a total M&A transaction value of around £4.6 billion, roughly the same as for the whole of 2009. 

Read the feature in full here.

Exclusive interview with Konstantinos Mavos, CEO of Positive Energy

2010-10-12T09:44:00.000+01:00

In this exclusive interview with Renewable Energy Magazine, Konstantinos Mavros gives us an insight into future opportunities the Greek PV market offers investors and how the Greek government has helped the market reach take-off speed.

Read the full interview.

Beanstalk's Autumn 2010 Newsletter

2010-09-29T09:00:00.001+01:00

Beanstalk's autumn 2010 newsletter - an exclusive digest of the latest Beanstalk news and corporate advisory perspectives. As you'll see, we've had a busy summer.

In this issue we discuss a number of projects where Beanstalk has taken a leading role:

- Octopus Venture's £2m investment in PrismaStar
- The sale of document management business Preview Services to Cintas
- 2MWp solar park contract for Postive Energy

We hope you'll find this newsletter relevant, informative and engaging. Let us know what you think and we'll make sure we're covering the news and advice you want to hear about.

Read the full autumn 2010 newsletter.

PrismaStar's venture capital investment - read exactly how we did it in our new case study

2010-09-28T09:00:00.006+01:00

Beanstalk Management secured a £2 million investment for one of Europe's leading product search companies.

Read more about Octopus Ventures' investment in PrismaStar in our latest corporate finance case study.

Corporate Finance Advisor Beanstalk Management secures £2m venture capital investment for PrismaStar Inc

2010-09-27T09:00:00.011+01:00

Beanstalk Management, the leading corporate finance advisor specialising in business divestitures and raising finance, has successfully concluded a venture capital investment on behalf of PrismaStar Inc. Selected as exclusive advisor, Beanstalk Management has drawn on its unique technology sector expertise to complete the £2 million investment with venture capital specialists Octopus Ventures Ltd.

Long term client of Beanstalk Management wins 2MWp solar construction contract

2010-09-23T17:00:00.002+01:00

Solar Gate SA has awarded Positive Energy the contract for the supply of equipment, project design, construction and operation of a 2ΜWp photovoltaic park in the Prefecture of Lakonia. The project commences in October 2010 and is expected to be finalised and commissioned by January 2011. The operation of the plant has substantial environmental benefits including the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 2,600 tonnes per year.

Preview Sale to Cintas - read exactly how we did it in our new case study

2010-09-23T09:00:00.006+01:00

Beanstalk Management helped to oversee the sale of one of Europe's leading document management companies.

Read exactly how we sold Preview Services Limited to Cintas Corporation in our latest case study.

Beanstalk Secures Divestiture of Document Management Business Preview Services to Cintas Corporation

2010-09-22T09:07:00.000+01:00

Beanstalk has successfully concluded a cross-border sale on behalf of Preview Services Limited. Selected as exclusive advisor, Beanstalk Management has drawn on its unique expertise in the technology and digital media sectors to complete the Preview Services divestiture to the US multinational Cintas Corporation.

Beanstalk Management Announce New London Office

2010-09-20T11:37:00.000+01:00

Beanstalk Management Corporate Finance Advisors are pleased to announce its move to a new London office at 67 Grosvenor Street, London, W1K 3JN. The offices are conveniently located near to Bond Street underground station and a short walk from Green Park.

Beanstalk Management is an innovative corporate advisory house specialising in the cleantech, consumer and high tech sectors. Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting. If you would like more information about how Beanstalk Management can help you with your business please contact us on +44 207 193 3699 or visit www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk.

Private equity drives tech M&A

2010-09-16T11:18:00.000+01:00

M&A activity in the technology sector increased by 76 per cent in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009, with 96 deals signed off.

The rise was driven largely by the return of private equity firms to the sector, according to a report from Clearwater Corporate Finance. There were 25 private equity buy-outs in the technology sector in the first six months of this year, up 56 per cent on the previous half-year and 250 per cent on the first half of 2009.

An increasing number of overseas buyers have also been active in the UK technology market this year. US trade purchasers accounted for around 30 per cent of all transactions in the first six months of 2010 compared to just 7 per cent for the same period in 2009.

Elonics Raises £6.1 million Series B Investment

2010-09-16T11:11:00.000+01:00

Elonics Ltd, the CMOS RF tuner company, announces the closing of a £6.1m ($9.5m) of Series B investment round led by Scottish Equity Partners and supported by Octopus Ventures, a division of Octopus Investments, alongside a number of existing investors.

Elonics, founded in 2003, has achieved a breakthrough in RF tuner technology, solving the perennial problem of combining high performance with low power and cost. Elonics patented DigitalTuneTM radio tuner chip technology platform, designed in CMOS, significantly improves signal path management and can be easily configured to support television and radio standards across the globe.

The investment will allow Elonics to accelerate the expansion of the overseas sales team with the opening of regional offices in Taiwan and China. In addition, the company will be embarking on a major recruitment drive aimed at bolstering its engineering team at its main UK base in Livingston.

NXP Semiconductors announces its acquisition of Jennic

2010-07-27T08:43:00.000+01:00

NXP Semiconductors announced its acquisition of Jennic - the Sheffield-based leading developer of low power RF solutions for wireless applications in smart energy, environment, logistics and consumer markets. The acquisition will see Jennic's state-of-the-art portfolio of 802.15.4 and Zigbee low power RF solutions integrated across a wide range of NXP's High Performance Mixed Signal products.

NVM Press Release Announcing Mantis Deposition Investment

2010-07-21T11:13:00.000+01:00

NVM Private Equity (NVM) has invested a funding package of £3 million of development capital into Oxfordshire-based Mantis Deposition Limited (Mantis). The company designs, builds and sells instrumentation for Thin Film Deposition (TFD) – the act of applying a thin film of material to a surface - as well a cutting-edge technology for applying nanocoatings to complex objects.

Beanstalk Management Summer 2010 Newsletter

2010-07-09T18:06:00.001+01:00

Beanstalk Management's summer 2010 newsletter - an exclusive digest of the latest Beanstalk Management news and corporate advisory perspectives.

In this issue we discuss:

* How Beanstalk helped Mantis Deposition secure a £3m investment from NVM
* The sale of Netcallidus Limited to dotDigital Plc
* Positive Energy's project to build one of the largest PV parks in SE Europe

We hope you'll find this newsletter relevant, informative and engaging. Let us know what you think and we'll make sure we're covering the news and advice you want to hear about.

Read the full Summer 2010 Newsletter

New Case Study: How Beanstalk raised £3m Private Equity investment for Mantis Deposition

2010-07-08T15:04:00.000+01:00

Mantis's products are used in a range of academic and research applications at the forefront of thin-film coating technology. It has more than 120 customers, including the University of Cambridge, MIT, Stanmford, NASA and Toyota, and has a proven profitable business with immense growth potential. But despite a proven instrumentation business, Mantis recognised that there was scope to take its products to a more global market. It needed investment to boost its sales and marketing power, so it could fulfil its potential in markets such as the USA, Japan and Germany.

"The technology we have developed at Mantis for nanocoatings and, in particular, nanoparticles deposition has tremendous market appeal - both within R&D and also industrial processes. We have a substantial amount of IPR; instruments, systems and coatings. The challenge for us was how to take this message to the world," says Lars Allers, Mantis managing director.

Read more here

Corporate finance advisor Beanstalk Management secures £3m growth investment for innovative nanotechnology company, Mantis Deposition

2010-07-07T11:53:00.000+01:00

Beanstalk Management, the leading corporate finance advisor specialising in the small and mid-market, has successfully concluded a private equity investment on behalf of Mantis Deposition Limited. Selected as exclusive advisor, Beanstalk Management has drawn on its unique technology sector expertise to complete the £3 million investment with independent private equity specialists NVM Private Equity Limited.

Founded in 2003, Mantis Deposition Limited designs and manufactures high quality deposition instrumentation for novel materials research and development. The company also engages in the contract coating of conventional thin films and the development of unique nanoparticle coatings for industrial applications such as high efficiency photovoltaic cells, nanocoating-enabled medical devices and fuel cells.

"Mantis empowers nanocoating research and our technology is behind some of the major innovations in our field. The commercialisation of nanotechnology is becoming increasingly relevant and NVM's investment recognises both the relevance of nanotechnology and the value of a quality nanocoatings business such as ours," commented Mantis Deposition's Managing Director, Lars Allers.

"I am exceptionally pleased with the dual-track competitive process Beanstalk Management ran for us," added Allers. "Mantis' value proposition is highly technical and they were able to convey a complex value proposition in a way that both potential buyers and investors were able to understand. Beanstalk negotiated an excellent result for me and my business which would have been hard to replicate without the care and attention they applied throughout the entire process".

Peter Hodson, NVM Private Equity Limited commented, "as the investor, it was reassuring to know that Mantis was being advised by Beanstalk Management. Beanstalk continually thought ahead to ensure that we were given exactly what we needed and this certainly helped secure the investment. We are delighted to have invested in Mantis and do not underestimate the role Beanstalk Management played during this process."

"Mantis Deposition is an excellent company and NVM's growth investment will allow them to commercialise their capability further and fulfil their potential. In particular, Mantis' unique nanoparticle deposition technology is truly disruptive and will no doubt enable many new ground-breaking applications," said Beanstalk Management Director, Richard Baker. "Beanstalk has maximised shareholder value and we are very excited for Mantis Deposition, Lars and NVM."

Sophia Search has secured £800,000 in funding from investors

2010-07-05T12:04:00.000+01:00

UK-based technology company Sophia Search has secured £800,000 in funding from investors that will allow it to double its workforce and expand into the US.

The company which uses advanced search engine technology to help businesses search internally for quality information was developed as a result of a collaboration between the University of Ulster and the State University of St. Petersburg in Russia.

The investment will allow the company to create 10 new posts in technology, sales, and marketing, and assist the firm's expansion into the US.

Sophia Search's clients are mostly based in the United States, and include IBM and Accelrys.

Chief executive Dr David Patterson, said "This investment gives the business the resources and breathing room to push forward with our aggressive growth plans."

US solar industry kick-started with £1.3bn in loan guarantees

2010-07-05T10:06:00.000+01:00

It is proposed that two solar energy firms will get around £1.3bn in US
loan guarantees to help start the US solar industry.

Obama announced the Energy Department will award the loan guarantees to Abengoa Solar Inc to help it build Solona, one of the largest solar generation plants in the world near Gila Bend, Arizona. Abengoa Solar is a division of Spanish renewable energy and engineering company Abengoa SA.

The loan guarantees will also be awarded to Colorado-based Abound Solar Manufacturing to manufacture advanced solar panels at two new plants, creating more than 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs.

Beanstalk Management Case Study: Concluding Investment for myRadio

2010-06-25T14:24:00.002+01:00

Beanstalk Management helped investors get tuned-in to the Cambridge-based technology business myRad.io. Here is how we helped them achieve seed funding...

http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/case-studies/myradio-case-study.htm

Beanstalk Management Case Study: the sale of Netcallidus to dotDigital

2010-06-25T13:23:00.007+01:00

Beanstalk Management secured the sale of Northampton-based search engine marketing company Netcallidus Limited. Here is how we did it...

http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/case-studies/netcallidus-case-study.htm

DARWIN PRIVATE EQUITY ACQUIRES PLUM BABY LIMITED FOR £10 MILLION

2010-06-03T09:02:00.000+01:00

Darwin Private Equity ("Darwin") has completed its third transaction, with the acquisition of the organic baby food business Plum Baby Limited ("Plum") for £10 million.

Plum is a leading premium organic baby food company which has revolutionised the baby food market. Launched in 2006 by Susie Willis, former chef and mum of three, Plum has pioneered the premium baby food sector in the UK and has witnessed dramatic year on year growth – it is on track to achieve retail turnover of £15 million in 2010. Its award winning range of over 50 products, created with the ethos of ‘real food for babies, not just baby food’, is distributed in most major supermarkets and includes baby food puree pots, purees in pouches, baby cereals, fromage frais, baby biscuits and snacks.

The acquisition by Darwin comes at an exciting time in the development of Plum as the business is transitioning from an early stage entrepreneurial operation into a professional consumer branded business. Darwin’s experience of growing UK consumer brands, working alongside talented entrepreneurs, will help the Company continue this transition and transform it into a major player in the UK baby food market whilst at the same time retaining its entrepreneurial roots and flair for innovation.

Founder Susie Willis will remain in the business as Creative Director, while CEO Patrick Cairns has decided to leave the business on completion of the deal. He will be replaced as Chief Executive by Paul Kaye. Paul is an experienced manager in the food sector having worked at Dairy Crest, Northern Foods, HJ Heinz UK and Mars Inc. (Masterfoods). He brings a wealth of experience in the branded food sector and his knowledge, support and leadership will be invaluable in driving the business forward over its next phase of growth. The rest of the management team will remain in place.

Susie Willis commenting on the sale said: "It was clear from the first meeting that Darwin shared our passion and vision for the business. We are looking forward to working with them to realise the full potential of the business building on the significant contribution that Patrick Cairns and the team have made over the past few years."

Jonathan Kaye, partner of Darwin Private Equity, commented: "Plum is a very strong brand. Susie and the team have done an excellent job to get the business to where it is today. We believe Plum has significant growth potential and we plan to invest heavily in the business to build upon its market position."

In 2007, Plum attracted investment from Venture Capital Trusts, now held by Beringea, Octopus and Foresight.

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Leadbay joins forces with All About Group

2010-05-24T14:40:00.002+01:00

Leadbay's parent company, Add Momentum Holdings has today joined forces with the All About Group, creating the largest financial services lead generation company in the country. The combined brands, which will trade as Leadbay Media Group, will supply advisers with more than 60,000 leads a month.

The coming together of the two companies will dramatically increase the number of leads currently available to FSA registered finance professionals, and will include more than 45,000 mortgage and loan leads and 15,000 life and income protection related leads a month. The combination of the two companies will enable advisers to continue to buy leads through Leadbay's innovative bidding system, but will also enable those that want a more guaranteed price to obtain fixed price leads using a new, cutting edge, technology platform developed by All About Leads.

The combined company will offer a wider, much more flexible service to mortgage brokers and IFAs of all sizes. The new company is committed to expanding to offer new products and new ways of accessing them in ways that most help the mortgage broker and IFA communities.

In addition to Leadbay, the Group will include:

Money Hospital Ltd - a consumer-focused company aimed at presenting the lighter side of financial services to consumer
All About Wills
All About Insurance

Leadbay Media Group Ltd will be headed up by Rob Ridge, while Grant Stevens will remain as managing director of Leadbay.

Grant Stevens, managing director of Leadbay says, "Our two companies had such complementary strengths that it made sense to bring them together. Together, we have the strength and depth to provide new offerings to financial advisers and brokers in a way that we would not have been able to do before."

Rob Ridge, director of Leadbay Media Group, says, "I am committed to growing this company to the benefit of both the brokers and financial advisers who support us and buy from us, but also our affiliate partners who provide us with leads. Leadbay Media Group remains committed to financial services and will build on the previous success of the two brands while also taking the company into new arenas."

To read the press release in full please visit: http://www.leadbay.co.uk/pressrelease_10_05_24_leadbayallaboutjoin.html

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Energiaki Vogiatzis award contract to create largest PV park in Greece

2010-05-24T13:49:00.003+01:00

Positive Energy, a long standing Beanstalk Management client, and Conergy cooperate to provide a turn-key solution for the largest Photovoltaic Park in Greece.

Energiaki Vogiatzis S.A. has awarded the contract for the supply of equipment, project design, construction and set in operation to create the largest photovoltaic park in Greece, to the EPC Contractor Positive Energy and to the Greek subsidiary of the German multinational Conergy. This 4,994.88 kWp project constitutes one of the most substantial investments in the photovoltaic sector for the Balkan region and is, at the moment, the largest PV park in Greece.

The photovoltaic park will be built on an area approximately 200,000 square meters in Northern Greece, in the region of Drama. The park will consist of Conergy PowerPlus photovoltaic panels and Conergy CIS 540 S type central inverters. It is estimated that it will produce over 7,100,000kWh per annum.

The project will commence in June 2010 and is expected to be commissioned before the end of the year. The operation of the plant will have substantial environmental benefits - reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 7,000 tons per year, equivalent to the capacity of a 350,000 tree forest.

The Bank of Cyprus is the chief lender of this project and in doing so has demonstrated its continuing support for green investments.

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POSITIVE ENERGY Company Profile

POSITIVE ENERGY is an EPC contractor in South-eastern Europe, providing comprehensive design, supply, construction solutions for renewable energy projects.
POSITIVE ENERGY belongs to a group of companies with a strong presence and extensive activity in South-eastern Europe with a focus on premium engineering turn-key solutions.
www.positiveenergy.gr

Conergy Company Profile

Conergy is the Greek subsidiary of the German Company Conergy AG, whose activities include the construction and promotion of advanced technology renewable energy source products as well as the development of photovoltaic systems. The company operates in 14 countries and has supplied over 1.2GWp photovoltaic generators worldwide. Moreover, it has installed projects with a total installed capacity of over 350MWp. Having a turnover surpassing 1 billion Euro for the 2008 fiscal year, Conergy has the highest market shares in Greece for the three-year period 2007-2009.

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Leading Corporate Finance Advisor Beanstalk Management Secures Business Sale for Search Engine Marketing Company Netcallidus Limited

2010-05-18T10:05:00.002+01:00

Beanstalk Management, the leading corporate finance advisor specialising in the small and mid-market, has successfully concluded a complete share sale on behalf of Netcallidus Limited. Selected as exclusive advisor, Beanstalk Management has drawn on its unique mid-market expertise in the digital media sector to complete the Netcallidus divestiture to Dot Digital Group Plc.

Netcallidus focuses on providing search engine marketing and paid search services to online businesses in the UK and overseas. Founded in 2002, the company has a long history of delivering exceptional search engine listing results and solid return on investment for their clients. “Netcallidus has proven it can deliver exceptional SEO results and this transaction highlights the value of a quality SEO platform in an age dominated by the internet,” commented Netcallidus’ Managing Director, Mark Furber.

“We are exceptionally pleased with the competitive divestiture process Beanstalk Management ran for us,” added Furber. “They successfully captured the essence of our proposition, negotiated a compelling deal and drove the entire process with tenacity. It would have been impossible to achieve the same result without them”.

“Clients value our approach and, as with Netcallidus, we continually deliver outstanding results for the businesses we work with,” said Beanstalk Management Director, Matthew Byatt. “Beanstalk has maximised shareholder value and we are delighted for both Netcallidus and Dot Digital.”

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative corporate advisory house specialising in the cleantech, consumer and high tech sectors. Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Bulgaria's proposed moratorium on renewable energy projects

2009-12-15T13:16:00.001Z

Bulgaria's Environment Minister Nona Karadjova has suggested that the South-Eastern European country may initiate a six-month moratorium on renewable energy products which are only in early their earliest phases.

He said: “We have had problems with the large number of wind power generators and solar power installations, not only because of the practice for them to be installed in protected areas, but also because of the large number of requests for expropriation of agricultural land.”
The reasons for the possible suspensions of these renewable energy projects in South-Eastern Europe seem to be resulting from breaches of regulations. The European Commission for the Construction of Wind Farms protected areas, known as the Natura 200. Apparently wind farm projects which have commenced for near Cape Kaliakra infringed the procedures by failing to carry out the required environmental assessments. The Agriculture Minister confirmed that he had increasingly been receiving requests for changes to land allcations with regards to renewable energy projects.

If the moratorium goes ahead, it is predicted to continue until the green energy development plan is finalised. The draft is expected to by approved by the European Commission by the middle of next year. The development plan will contain detailed evaluations of renwable energy capacity in across particular regions as well as the devlopment of electricity distribution companies, NEK power grids and environmental assessments.

This news has been met with concern in South-Easter Europe bu the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria. They issued a statement which read: "Given that a significant percentage of member firms of CEIBG express their interest in the development of renewable energy sources, we fear that the envisaged moratorium will reflect in a negative way on their business."

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Bulgaria may grab Czech leadership in solar energy

2009-12-14T13:40:00.001Z

"To match its own wind success, Bulgaria must fix the feed-in tariff for already installed solar parks as opposed to the current system, which allows an annual 5 percent drop in prices for both old and new installations, investors and analysts say.

The previous Socialist-led government doubled the duration of guaranteed preferential power purchase prices to 25 years but the varying price in times of crisis makes investors hesitant.

"If there is a change in the law in the light of guaranteeing the price, the interest of both banks and its clients will jump," said Assen Yagodin, executive director at the Bulgarian unit of Greek EFG Eurobank.

Germany's Phoenix Solar, Italy's Petrolvilla, Austrian EVN and dozens of smaller local companies as well as from Spain, Austria and the Netherlands are among those who have already tabled projects.

Bulgaria's new cabinet, which took power in July, pledges to amend laws to boost green energy but did not give a timetable".

To read the article in full please visit Reuters - http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5AF51O20091116

Bulgarian renewable incentives could result in grid blackouts

2009-12-08T14:19:00.001Z

Government incentives for the production of renewable energy in Bulgaria has resulted in an onslaught of projects. Such is the overwhelming response to the incentives for biomass, wind and solar energy systems, a total of 11,000 megawatts to September, that there is a fear that the abundance of new projects could cause national grid blackouts.

The high voltage grids in Bulgaria are run by the state electricity system operator (ESO). Their chief executive, Ivan Ayolov, has given an interview in which he has stated his belief that stricter regulation should be implemented to prevent this overwhelming response. He also likened the current situation to the Klondike gold rush.

Ayoloy stated: “This has to be stopped in an intelligent way, otherwise we face a catastrophe. At this stage the grid is reliable. Its capacity (for new installations) is 1,800 MW but it is not reliable when it comes to 10,000 MW.”

Currently Bulgaria relies heavily on nuclear power and coal as its main sources of energy. This is common in former communist states. However, as a member of the European Union there is a requirement to meet EU targets regarding renewable energy. As such, Bulgaria must achieve 16-20 per cent green energy by 2020. The incentives currently offered by the Bulgarian government are driven towards these targets. The result has been a boom in wind power projects across Bulgaria and Romania while many solar projects have been developed in the Czech Republic.

Already, the difference in Bulgaria's renewable energy is tangible. In the past year, their wind energy capacity has jumped from 103 MW to 330 MW. The fear, of course, is that the grid will be unable to cope with the demands of these renewable energy systems. The north-eastern region of Varna has already been subject to a freeze on turbine connection by state power utility NEK. They have also issued warnings that power outages may occur due to the increasing numbers of wind projects.

Mr Ayolov suggested that a strategy for sustainability while the country strives to meet EU targets is necessary to work alongside the government incentives. He believes that this would lessen the strain currently being put on the power grid. A plan is expected to be submitted to Brussels by June next year which will detail regulations for connecting energy sources to the grid and applicable capacities. This is being prepared by the Economy and Energy Ministry. Another issues, of course, is that of determining which investors are serious about renewable energy production and which are merely speculators. ESO suggests tackling this by requesting that investors pay a five per cent deposit against the value of their project, to the state.

The legislation that exists places a requirement on the three power utilities in the region – Austria's EVNVI, Germany's E.ON and Czech CEZ – and also NEK to prioritise renewables when connections are made to the grid system. They are also each responsible for covering any associated costs, which apply to upgrading their grid connections when linking new capacity.

Suggestions by experts estimate a necessary 40 million levs (equivalent to $30.49 million) to connect 100 MW to the energy grid. 300-350 million levs have been invested annually by NEK for overhauls and maintenance.

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Gaymers acquired

2009-12-03T14:25:00.001Z

The Gaymer Cider Company has become the object of an acquisition by C&C Group who make Magners cider. This acquisition is worth £45 million to Constellation Brands, the current owners of Gaymer Cider Company. They have chosen to sell this business which produces several cider brands in the UK including Olde English, Blackthorn and, of course, Gaymers. C&C group have been successful in raising finance through a bank facility worth £60 million.

The Gaymer Cider Company currently employs 250 staff at their bases in Somerset and Bristol. In the year ending February they had generated sales of £64 million. Meanwhile, in the six months to August of this year, C&C Group who are based in Dublin reported a decrease in their Revenue of ten and a half per cent to 257.5 million Euros. Their operating profits were also down to 57.4 million Euros, a decrease of 13.6 per cent. Their existing cider, Magners, has struggled to compete against Gaymers and other ciders on the market despite a promising start in since 2005. Now this acquisition from Constellation brands is set to triple C&C Group's business valuation, since the UK cider assets of Constellation have a total business valuation of around £43.5 million.

Commenting on their corporate development, Chairman of C&C, Tony O'Brien, said: “The acquisition enhances our product portfolio, creates operating synergies and delivers value for our shareholders.”

Speaking about the acquisition, C&C chief executive John Dunsmore said: “This transaction strengthens out position within the world's largest cider market and broadens the scope of the group's existing cider offering.”

The acquisition should be completed shortly after the new year as long as the Office of Fair Trading approve the transaction.

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Ferrero and Hershey to make joint bid for Cadbury

2009-11-26T14:09:00.000Z

Back in early November, Cadbury rejected a hostile takeover bid to the tune of £9.8bn from US-based Kraft. At the time Cadbury referred to the acquisition offer as “derisory”. Now, reports suggest that Ferrero and Hershey could be gearing up to make a joint bid for the Birmingham-based confectionery brand. Ferrero, based in Italy, confirmed that such plans were only at “preliminary stages” while Hershey refused to confirm reports, stating that bidding for Cadbury was merely a possibility.

Analysts have suggested that these two confectionery brands would join forces to make a acquisition bid as neither are in a financial position to bid for Cadbury without further financial backing. It has still been suggested that Kraft would be the frontrunner for any takeover.

Charles Stanley analyst, Jeremy Batstone-Carr, commented: “Significant questions remain regarding how any deal (from Ferrero and Hershey) might be put together, not least in terms of product and/or geographical segmentation.”

He continued: “The likely complexities associated with a rival approach for Cadbury in purely practical terms leaves us strongly of the view that Kraft remains the strongest rival, but that it will need to increase its offer in order to win control.”

Cadbury is the second largest confectionery company in the world. Last year alone it produced revenues of £5.4bn. Shares in Cadbury also continue to rise amidst the takeover speculation. Ferrero, makers of Ferrero Rocher and Nutella, had revenues of 6bn Euros in 2008 while Hershey made $1.5bn (equivalent to £3bn). However, frontrunners Kraft own several food brands, including Maxwell House coffee and Philadelphia produced total revenues of $42.2bn last year alone.

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Bulgarian renewable energy sources to increase ten-fold by 2020

2009-11-18T14:12:00.004Z

A new report issued by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) has shown that Bulgaria is emerging as one of the world's leading wind energy markets. Over the past year alone, Bulgaria has attained 330 megawatts in wind capacity which is more than double the 158 megawatts at the end of last year. The Global Wind Energy Council's Global Wind 2008 Report detailed the three-fold increase in Bulgaria's wind capacity from 2007-2008, up from 57 MW. EWEA now expects the wind capacity in Bulgaria to reach over 3,000 MW by 2020. This will equate to 13.5% of the country's projected electricity demand.

The EU mandate expects 16% of all countries' projected electricity demand to be produced by renewable energy by 2020. As it stands, this South-Eastern European country is achieving 9.4% of its electricity demand from renewables. Data gained from the U.S. Energy Information Administration evidenced that Bulgaria had a total installed capacity across all sources of 11.2 gigawatts three years ago.

If Bulgaria reaches the level of renewables predicted by the EWEA, it would be in a position to assist neighbouring countries in South Eastern Europe who are having difficulty meeting the targets by selling renewable energy to them. The Bulgarian Ministry of Energy has projected that this would result in revenue of between €7.5 billion and €10 billion over the ten year period. Bulgaria is now expected to deliver its renewable energy action plan to the EU by June of next year.

According to Christian Kjaer, Chief Executive of EWEA, Bulgaria has a further 8 GW of renewable energy projects planned. His news release read: “If current planning and grid access barriers are streamlined, Bulgaria will soon be one of Europe's wind energy front-runners.”

Enel, the largest electricity provider in Italy, bought a third of a 1.4 GW wind project based in Greece last year. As a result of this deal, Enel also had the option to be a part a wider development in neighbouring Bulgaria of 180 MW of wind energy.

Based on EWEA figures, 65 GW of installed wind capacity was installed across the EU by the end of last year. Of all renewable energy systems, wind was responsible for generating 36% of electricity. However, despite the progress which continues in Bulgaria other South-Eastern European countries are facing hurdles in their endeavours. Bordering country Romania had only installed 10 MW of wind capacity by the end of 2008 which resulted in the EWEA entering into negotiations with the Romanian government to find ways to work around these barriers.

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Innovative Strategy Consultancy Beanstalk Management Leads Breakfast Roundtable Discussion with Guidepoint Global

2009-11-12T14:17:00.001Z

Beanstalk Management, the corporate advisory house, led a breakfast roundtable discussion with investment banks and hedge funds in London, hosted by Guidepoint Global. Richard Baker, Director and Co-Founder of Beanstalk Management, shared his insights into trends in the UK drinks industry. In particular, he focused on how branded beverage businesses are about growing their brands in a dynamic market place and amidst the impact of the credit crunch.

Beanstalk Management consultants have not only worked with in large consulting firms but had successful careers in industry and run their own businesses. This unique blend of experience ensures a very unique and results-orientated approach to any consulting project. For the roundtable discussion, this blend of experience allowed Richard to help attendees understand the challenges being navigated on a daily basis by branded goods suppliers.

Feedback from the event was extremely positive from both attendees and the host Guidepoint Global. Beanstalk Management looks forward to supporting similar events in the future.

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Daniels Group lead bidding for Gü

2009-11-05T11:12:00.002Z

Back in August, the premium London-based desserts brand Gü was put on the market with an asking price of £30-40m.

Gü was launched by James Averdieck and Mordechai Wosner back in 2002. The company has expanded in recent years with its products now being sold in France and offered to passengers travelling on Virgin Atlantic flights. The business also diversified to produce fruit desserts such as sponge rolls, flapjacks, chocolate truffles and biscuits under the name Fru. The brand has been hugely successful, with an average annual growth of 66%. However, as the recession hit consumers shunned luxury brands in favour of cheaper alternatives thus having an effect on Gü's profits.

At the time that the brand was announced for sale many food companies were named as potential buyers. Amongst these were Nestle, Mars, Muller Dairy, Northern Foods and Daniels Group. Nestle were believed to be an obvious choice to bid for Gü since they already have an extensive range of desserts, yoghurts and ice creams. However, it is now believed that Daniels Group are the front runners.

Daniels Group are the company behind New Covent Garden Food Company and Johnsons Juice. They have now edged in front of Darwin Private Equity and another unnamed private equity firm. This makes Daniels Group the final trade firm, which is still chasing the purchase. The sale is expected to conclude by the end of the year.

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Leadbay features in The Sunday Times Tech Track 100

2009-10-28T15:09:00.002Z

Beanstalk Management, the corporate advisory house, is pleased to announce that their client Leadbay, achieved 20th place in The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 league published in September. Matthew Byatt, Director at Beanstalk Management said “we are delighted that Leadbay have been recognised in such a prominent position in Tech Track and count amongst the UK’s fastest-growing technology companies.”

The 2009 Tech Track 100 ranks Britain’s fastest-growing private tech companies based on sales growth over the latest three years. Now in its ninth year, The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 annual league table is compiled by Oxford-based research and networking events company Fast Track. The published league table is available to view at :
http://www.fasttrack.co.uk/fasttrack2002/migration/dbDetails.asp?siteID=3&compID=2647&yr=2009

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Mergers and acquisition activity increases

2009-10-14T10:59:00.001+01:00

Venture-backed exits, which primarily consist of mergers and acquisitions, were down by approximately fifty per cent during the third quarter. However, there is evidence to suggest that mergers and acquisitions activity is actually on the increase.

TechCrunch keeps data on all announced acquisitions. Based on the figures they have, during the third quarter $45.1 billion worth of acquisitions were announced. This is a three-fold increase from the $15.4 billion in the three months, which went before and quadruple the low of $7.6 billion from the fourth quarter, which was an increase of nearly 25 per cent from the year before.

Larger acquisitions accounted for a large chunk of these figures. Many of these included companies trading on the stock market, for example the purchase of Perot Systems by Dell for $3.9 billion, Affiliated Computer Services bought by Xerox for $5.75 billion and Adobe acquiring Omniture for $1.8 billion. Biotech and pharmaceutical deals were also prevalent, such as Dainippon Sumitomo acquiring Sepracor for $2.6 billion and the merger of Abbott Labs with Solvay Pharmaceuticals for a hefty $6.6 billion.

The quantity of mergers and acquisitions has stagnated around the 210,000 over the past four years. However, the value of these acquisitions has substantially increased. The average of each deal has actually increased by 85 per cent from the same period last year. During the third quarter the average value of each merger and acquisition deal was $349 million. Buyers appear to be more cautious about making deals but once they decide to continue, it would appear that they are willing to spend larger quantities of money. This is particularly the case when dealing with companies who are established with a proven track record. This accounts for the increased spend on publicly traded companies.

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Beanstalk Management attend The BLN CFO Breakfast brainstorming

2009-10-13T23:23:00.004+01:00

A blog post detailing the discussions from The BLN CFO Breakfast brainstorming on the 7th October can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/CFOceo

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Innovative Corporate Finance House Beanstalk Management to Run Seminar on the “Art of Business Exit” in Conjunction with SETsquared

2009-09-25T10:29:00.002+01:00

Following the success of a similar event earlier this year Beanstalk Management will be running another seminar on “The Art of Business Exit – selling your business for its maximum value” on Friday 29th January 2010 in Surrey. The seminar provides a step-by-step guide to how to sell your business for its maximum value and is highly relevant to technology businesses looking to exit over the next few years. The seminar is to be run by Matthew Byatt and Richard Baker, both Directors at Beanstalk Management.

Suntory seals Orangina buy-out

2009-09-24T09:15:00.000+01:00

Japanese drinks group Suntory has confirmed the acquisition of Orangina Schweppes for £2.6bn from private equity owners Blackstone and Lion Capital.

To read the article in full please visit The Grocer website - http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=articles&ID=203649

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Beanstalk Management to attend European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference

2009-09-17T14:49:00.001+01:00

The 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (21st to 25th September 2009) and Exhibition (21st to 24th September 2009) will be held at the CCH - Congress Center and International Fair in Hamburg, Germany.

www.photovoltaic-conference.com

Suntory and Asahi in talks over Orangina

2009-09-14T21:39:00.001+01:00

The private equity owners of Orangina Schweppes are holding talks with Japanese drinks groups Suntory and Asahi Breweries in the final stages of a €2.6bn ($3.8bn) auction to sell the maker of France's best-known soft drink.

Blackstone and Lion Capital, which acquired Orangina from Cadbury for €1.85bn in 2006, are considering a last-ditch approach from Asahi after an exclusive negotiation period with Suntory expired at the end of August. But Suntory, the privately owned maker of beer, whisky and soft drinks, which is itself in talks to merge with its Japanese rival Kirin, is still considered the favourite to acquire Orangina.

To read the article in full please visit the FT website - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/35a51260-9d99-11de-9f4a-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

Cadbury snubs £10.2bn Kraft move

2009-09-08T09:39:00.001+01:00

Cadbury shares rose almost 40% after it rejected a £10.2bn approach from Kraft Foods, sparking talk of a bidding war.

Kraft said that the purchase of the maker of Dairy Milk would protect jobs in the UK - including saving a factory earmarked for closure. But Cadbury said the approach "fundamentally" undervalued the firm.

Analysts say Kraft may sweeten its offer. Others could enter the fray, with the prospect of Nestle and Hershey making a joint move being mooted.

"Our initial view is that this represents a competitively pitched offer, but something less than a knockout blow," said Martin Deboo at Investec.

To read the article in full please visit the BBC News website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/mobile/business/8241056.stm

Government challenges VCs with £1 billion technology innovation fund

2009-08-21T20:23:00.000+01:00

The Government has announced the creation of one of Europe's largest technology funds to invest in promising small businesses, start-ups and spin-out companies.The UK Innovation Investment Fund will be kick-started by a cornerstone investment of £150 million by the Government and it is hoped that the fund will grow to £1 billion over the next 10 years through private investment. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson described the fund as "a challenge to UK venture capitalists to follow the Government's lead in backing British entrepreneurs." The new fund will invest in specialist technology funds with the track record and expertise to make direct investments, rather than investing directly in technology businesses itself.

The fund is expected to invest heavily in large funds with a strong investment record, rather than supporting the smaller early stage seed and challenge funds.Although some VCs have welcomed the announcement, others are concerned that it is just another headline grabbing initiative that, in reality, will be of little help to those that need it the most. Additionally, as a fund manager has yet to be appointed, it is likely to be some time before the first investments are made.

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Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker.

Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting.

Innovative Strategy Consultancy Beanstalk Management works with Canback Dangel on Euorpean Predictive Analytics Projects

2009-08-11T14:07:00.003+01:00

Beanstalk Management, the innovative corporate advisory house, has been working with Canback Dangel on European client engagements. Beanstalk Management’s experience of the consumer sector has provided Canback Dangel with the ability to work successfully on predictive analysis projects. Based on the success of recent engagements, Beanstalk Management and Canback Dangel are now proactively working together to source new and exciting projects in the consumer sector.

Beanstalk Management consultants have not only worked with large consulting firms but had successful careers in industry and run their own businesses. This unique blend of experience ensures a very unique and results-orientated approach to any consulting project.

“Beanstalk brought the experience in the consumer sector we needed to deliver predictive analytics projects to clients in Europe,” said Staffan Canback, Co-Founder and MD of Canback Dangel. “We’ve already successfully worked together to deliver a major piece of strategic consulting advice to a FTSE-100 consumer products business and look forward to collaborating together in the future.”

“Canback Dangel is the world leader in management consulting based on predictive analytics. Their predictive analytics approach allows them to achieve results faster, with higher precision and at a lower cost than traditional management consulting firms. This is particularly true for marketing strategy and product/market assessment issues,” said Richard Baker, Director of Beanstalk Management. “We are excited to be working with them to jointly develop a client base in Europe.”

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website: http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/about-us/pr2009/Canback_Dangel_strategy_consulting_20090811.htm

US venture capital investment in cleantech rises to $572m

2009-08-04T12:25:00.001+01:00

US venture capital investment in cleantech companies in Q2 2009 reached $572m led by Solar and efficiency deals according to an Ernst & Young analysis based on data from Dow Jones VentureSource.

To read the article in full please visit NewNet - http://www.newenergyworldnetwork.com/alternative-energy-knowledge-bank/us-venture-capital-investment-in-cleantech-rises-to-572m-led-by-solar-and-efficiency-deals.html

Selling a firm is as hard as starting it

2009-08-04T11:03:00.001+01:00

If you think that selling your business will mean sailing off into the sunset the next day waving a fat cheque, think again. In these uncertain economic times, buyers are increasingly looking at ways of taking the risk out of their purchases, which means they are paying a smaller proportion upfront and demanding that the vendor stays on to run the company for three years or more and earns the rest by hitting tough performance targets.

To read the article in full please visit timesonline- http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/management/article6736023.ece

TSC Foods in £24m buyout

2009-07-27T12:18:00.001+01:00

TSC Foods, the makers of the Glorious soup range, has been bought by Key Capital Partners. The purchase by this private equity firms is reportedly worth £24 million. Glorious soups are endorsed by Marco Pierre White.

Key Capital with take over TSC Foods in conjunction with Jonathan Skofic who was previously an executive at Cott Beverages, a soft drink firm. Mr Skofic is likely to become the managing director of the new group. Currently TSC, which produces soups, dips and sauces, has an annual turnover of around £35 million. Their products are stocked in supermarkets such as Waitrose and Morrisons and are also sold to restaurants.

Bill Morran and Brian Dahl were co-owners of TSC. They are now set to receive huge windfalls resulting from the sale. Morran and Dahl were responsible for a management buyout of TSC Foods back in 2006. Dahl has been responsible for the day to day running of the firm.

Celebrity chef Marco Pierre White backed Glorious produce which was previously owned by Conival until the pasta sauces and soups were bought by TSC in 2008.

Key Capital Partners have a history of small to mid-market takeovers. They recently bought Sabotage fashion house for £2.25 million and Templine Recruitment for £4.3 million. They have offices in Birmingham, Leeds and Cambridge.

Cleantech investments hit a record high

2009-07-23T10:29:00.001+01:00

Global venture funding for clean technology hit a record high with $2bn invested in the second quarter of 2008.

The senior research director for The Cleantech Group disclosed that global venture funding has hit an all time high despite downwards trends in the rest of the sector.

Brian Fan commented, "This is still early in the game for Cleantech and venture capital firms see real potential for a return."

His comments are backed up by a report which tracked 96 global venture start-up investments across the globe. The most popular areas for venture capital investments were second generation biofuels and solar thermal.

Mr Fan continued, "This breakout quarter for solar thermal and algae companies indicates a growing appetite for clean technologies that can replace coal for electricity generation and oil for transportation fuels and help solve worldwide issues."

"The scale of these problems are enormous. For example in 2008 the world's daily consumption of oil is 87 million barrels a day but production of bio fuels is just 1.35 million. When you look at electricity from renewable sources it is just 2% of the total power generation and the majority of power generation comes from coal."

Foundation Capital, a Silicon Valley firm, have been ploughing money into Cleantech. One of their principal investors, Steve Vassallo spoke to the BBC, telling them, "In the last 12-18 months there has been a massive influx from investors. This sector promises to be a very large market with investment set to grow between $6-£20 trillion in the next twenty years."

Of course, investments of this size come with a degree of risk. Vassallo said, "We see a lot of carnage both in the bio fuels area and solar photovoltaics. There is too much money going into these sectors and too few good companies."

For this reason Foundation Capital are basing their investments in firms that use technology to improve on present day resources. He used Naverus as an example. They are a company who are reducing airline fuels consumption and costs by navigating plains to land more efficiently. They have already saved Southwest airlines more than 100 million gallons in a year.

The report issued by The Cleantech Group detailed that American companies were attracting over 75% of investments, 40% of which was in the Bay Area. Companies based in Europe, with an emphasis on Britain, received 13%, closely followed by Chinese companies who received a 12% share.

Brian Fan said," The UK has been consistent in being a leader as far as Europe is concerned in this field with London as a financial centre and a relative maturity of investors. China meanwhile is interesting because of its massive scale and is set to emerge as a world power. They are keen to develop their own solutions to world problems and import from the West."

Innovative strategy consultancy Beanstalk Management helps Ziamese Sisters to launch Green Mulberry Tea in Europe

2009-07-15T12:40:00.002+01:00

Beanstalk Management, the corporate advisory house, has been working with Ziamese Sisters to develop launch plans for their Green Mulberry Tea brand in Europe. Beanstalk Management’s extensive experience of the consumer products sector has provided Ziamese Sisters with the expertise they need on the ground in the UK.

Beanstalk Management consultants have not only worked with in large consulting firms but had successful careers in industry and run their own businesses. This unique blend of experience ensures a very unique and results-orientated approach to any consulting project. Beanstalk Management is examining the launch options in the UK for its Ziamese Tea Society brand focusing on Green Mulberry Tea and facilitating the identification and introduction to suitable distributors and retailers.

Ziamese Sisters launched their Ziamese Tea Society brand in Thailand and are now the leading brand of Green Mulberry Tea. Ziamese Tea Society won the Superior Taste Award 2008 from the International Taste & Quality Institute, Belgium, for its Boutique Tea Green Mulberry Extra. This is the second international award for Ziamese Tea Society and testament to Ziamese Sister’s dedication to showcasing Thailand’s best on the world stage.

“Beanstalk are helping us look at our first overseas market outside of Thailand, “ said Nathathai Bhukkanasut, Founder of Ziamese Sisters. “We believe the UK represents an exciting opportunity for our Green Mulberry Tea, which tastes great, has no caffeine, is tannin free, yet delivers many of the health benefits of regular green tea.”

“Ziamese Sisters have developed a compelling consumer proposition with their Green Mulberry Tea, not least the wonderful taste” said Richard Baker, Director of Beanstalk Management. “We are confident that we can help them launch successfully in the UK.”

Interested parties are urged to contact Beanstalk Management by the end of July on +44 203 239 0118 or r.baker@beanstalkmanagement.co.uk .

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website: http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/about-us/pr2009/Ziamese_Sisters_launch_mulberry_tea_20090715.htm

Consumers choose brands over own-labels

2009-07-07T09:55:00.001+01:00

Despite the recession, customers are still choosing big brand groceries over supermarket own-labels according to data from Nielsen.

Due to the current economic climate, the Private Labels Manufacturers Association had predicted that own-label products would have the majority market share by the end of 2009. This was certainly on course at the beginning of the year when own-labels had a value share of 48.2% and a 52.7% share by volume. However, promotions on branded products have been credited with swaying customers to purchase them over own-label goods

This information has been gained from Nielsen Scantrack data and is based on customers who have a choice between budget, standard and premium own-label products or branded goods. It covers the 52 weeks up until the end of May 2009.

During this period, sales of branded products increased by 9% on the previous period. Conversely sales of healthy own-label products fell by 7% and their premium ranges grew by only 1%. Standard own-label products were also lagging behind the branded goods with a growth rate of 6%. However, the largest increase in sales was budget own-label products which saw an increase of 25% year on year although it had a smaller base to begin with than the others.

Mike Watkins, senior retail services manager for Nielsen commented, "There is more private label being bought by volume but a good deal of it is being bought at lower price points."

He continued, "This goes back to moves like Tesco's discounter range and to the discounters themselves. Discounters now have a 6% market share and a substantial majority of their goods and private labels."

Intel increase stake in Imagination Technologies

2009-06-30T21:21:00.001+01:00

Intel raises its stake in Imagination Technologies to 16%. Chief executive of Imagination technologies, Hossein Yassaie has defended the move as a "protective measure" by Intel due to Technologies' position as supplier to many key players in the market.

He stated, "Certainly the likes of Intel and Apple are heavily dependent on us delivering current and future technologies, so if a company like that takes a stake in Imagination then it is really a protective measure."

He continued, "They [Intel] have made it very clear that they have no intention of making a bid for the company."

According to Mr Yassaie, Imagination Technologies' success is a result of its independence but he did concede that customers need to feel that the company is 'in safe hands'.

Imagination Technologies have just issued accounts which detail increased sales and pre-tax profits for the company over the last twelve months. Pro-rata sales have increased by 16% to £64.1 million, while adjusted pre-tax profits were up from £3.2 million to £5 million.

Trevor Selby, finance director at Imagination Technologies attributed these figures to increased revenue from licensing and royalties on their own silicon IP products. Royalty revenues rose to £14 million which is an increase of 29% while joint licensing and royalty revenues increased by 24% to £36.9 million. This resulted in a 701% increase in adjusted operating profits.

Castlemaine XXXX to be withdrawn from sale in UK

2009-06-16T16:35:00.000+01:00

It has been announced by Australian drinks corporation Lion Nathan that the Castlemaine XXXX brand will be withdrawn from sale in the UK next year. It is currently brewed under license in Britain by Anheuser-Busch InBev at the Samlesbury Brewery in Lancashire, North West England.

The brewing of Castlemaine in Australia commenced in 1748 but only made its first appearance on UK shelves back in 1984. A 375ml 'tinnie' was launched in the UK in 2006 to match the standard can size in their market. The licensing deal with Anheuser-Busch InBev expires in June and will not be renewed. Lion Nathan commented that this move was as a result of "challenging market conditions" within the lager market in the UK.

The group released a statement which read, "In an increasingly globalised world, Lion Nathan believes maintaining varied brand positioning in different markets is not in the best interests of the XXXX brand."

Anheuser-Busch InBev stated, "InBev is informing stockists of the decision and will continue to work with them to ensure that the InBev range of brands – including Stella Artois, Beck's and Budweiser – reflects their consumer profile and commercial needs."

Siding with the angels

2009-06-15T22:31:00.001+01:00

Author: Robert E Wiltbank

Published: May 2009

Download the full report: http://www.nesta.org.uk/siding-with-the-angels

After entrepreneurs develop an opportunity, and use up their own resources, they often turn to business angel investors for early investment to keep the venture growing.

At this point in the development of new ventures the risk of failure is significant; many aspects of the business including customer relationships, pricing strategy, talent, and other key factors are quite unclear. Yet there are a growing number of investors known as 'business angels' willing to invest at this point.

They have become an increasingly important source of equity finance over the last decade for new and nascent businesses1 as venture capital investors are not able to accommodate a large number of small deals with their attendant due diligence and oversight needs.

Business angels are now prominent coinvestment partners in the early-stage market. Understanding why investors would involve themselves in anything so risky is important, given the contribution of innovative start-up businesses to the economy.

Although there is no comprehensive survey of business angel activity available, an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 business angels were investing up to £1 billion annually by 2000. Despite their increasing importance, little is known about the outcomes of business angel investment and returns in the UK.

Mason and Harrison conducted the first attempt to identify the returns and characteristics of the UK business angel investors, pointing out the lack of evidence on the outcomes of investments by business angels.

They suggested that this "represents a significant gap in our knowledge and understanding of an important segment of the venture capital market".

This research addresses three questions:

What are the investment outcomes to business angel investing?
What are the characteristics of UK business angel investors?
What strategies and practices are related to improved investment outcomes?

The data in this study is drawn from a survey of 158 UK-based angel investors in late 2008. They have invested £134 million into 1,080 angel investments between them, and have exited 406 of those investments ('exit' in this study refers to any termination of an investment, including a venture going out of business, being acquired, or going public).

The sample is limited in its size and its focus is entirely on those who are members of groups. The conclusions drawn throughout the report need to be understood in light of these sample limitations. There are three central implications from the study, as follows:

Business angel investing is risky, but overall appears to generate attractive outcomes.

Key strategic choices are significantly related to better investment outcomes.

Tax incentives appear to have a material effect on encouraging business angel investing, and some details may help refine existing policy.

Renewable Energy boost economy and jobs

2009-06-10T10:17:00.001+01:00

A study carried out by the European Commission on the effect that the renewable energy policy is likely to have on employment and economic growth has found that if the renewable energy targets are met by 2020 this is likely to result in the creation of 2.8 million jobs in this sector. Hitting these targets will also make around 1.1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product.

Andris Piebalgs, Energy Commissioner commented, "This shows the benefits of renewables in terms of security of supply and fighting climate change can go hand in hand with economic benefits."

In employment terms, wind, biomass and hydro technologies are considered to be the most worthy. Obviously this sector's significance is reliant on individual member states but if targets are met, the impact on the economy could be considerable especially as back in 2005 the renewable energy sector was employing only 1.4 million people with an added gross value of €58bn.

One action point highlighted in the study is that in order to garner the maximum economic advantages from renewable energy, stronger policies will need to be put in place. Financial support is required for the more pioneering technologies such as offshore wind, solar thermal electricity, photovoltaic and second-generation biofuels in the short term. This is a wise investment as these innovative technologies hold the key to the 2020 targets being achieved and thus realising the predicted boost to the economy and employment as a consequence.

Raising Project Finance for Renewable Energy

2009-06-09T16:21:00.001+01:00

Renewable Energy is a noble concept, but a reality that has been near impossible to get off the ground by its champions. Alternatives, such as coal and nuclear, while damaging to the environment as well as posing health risks, have always won the energy race. The low financial risk involved combined with the stability of the associated technologies have kept them a safer bet for lenders. Environmentally sustainable forms of energy have always come up against the hurdles of a lack dependable technologies available and an inability to generate capital. However, the times are changing.

There are many facets of a renewable energy project which demand research. The sustainability as well as the dependability of the technology must be documented. Consumer demand must be constant, there is also the possibility of government sponsored incentives. Of course, you must find an avenue to raise capital for your venture that is both low risk and financially viable for yourself. In a nutshell you need a product, a market and expert finance; when you can bring all of these factors together in a harmonious way you have the trifecta. A no risk business venture that is guaranteed to generate a profit while being kind to the environment.

In recent years people have become more environmentally aware, this is a trend that will only continue and expand in the future. People are out there, in the worst economic times since the depression, buying organic food, hybrid cars and fair trade clothing. Many people seem happy to pay a premium in return for the benefits to the environment, as well as the global community. Despite the current economic crisis, there has never been a better time to embark on environmentally sustainable projects. Perhaps the most promising are that in renewable energy; the wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy industries are all set to boom, in some cases they are already. With government rebates for solar power and wind power being offered by many governments, the demand for renewable energy has risen sharply. Good intentions, but how do you raise capital to complete a large scale renewable energy project of the ground?

Many financial advisors will tell you that since late 2008 funding sources for renewable energy have all but dried up, this is not the case. A 25% increase in consumer demand has been documented each year for the last three years. With consumer demand comes more commercial venture. As many of these ventures have been successful, lenders have jumped on the bandwagon, looking for a secure investment in a time of uncertainty. In turn more options for project finance have become available. The big banks are much more partial to environmentally sustainable ventures than they were as short a time as two or three years ago.

Tax credits and government incentives in are attractive. In some regions the tax credits and government incentives available can cover as much as 60% of the capital costs. With this in mind governments legislate to allow investors to be partners in larger scale projects, this way tax incentives are maximized.

There are many ways to structure a loan when financing a new venture. One of the potions with the lowest risk to you personally is project finance. With high demand currently being experienced in the renewable energy sector, project finance is possible. For medium to large scale operations, project finance is a viable option for raising capital. Corporate finance works in a similar fashion to most business loans; the bank will assess your risk factors and decide whether to issue a loan or not based on your balance sheet. The liability for the loan, and all of the risk involved, will be either to yourself or your company.

Project finance differs at this point, the bank will take into account any additional revenue that the venture is expected to produce. Because of this, lenders will only offer project finance on projects with a very high chance of bringing in a return. In this instance the project is set up as a separate entity, while still under the umbrella of the company. It can rely on its own predicted profit and loss when it comes to finance as well as any legal issues. This is known as a special project vehicle. This protects the main company both legally and financially.

Of course, in this scenario, lending is more difficult to arrange when compared to corporate finance. The banks may decide to issue a smaller loan, or offer a higher interest rate. The risk to them is higher, therefore you end up paying more.

There are many other benefits of launching a renewable energy project. Another benefit is seasonal lending; that is when the lender schedules your repayments according to seasonal profit forecasts. Much of renewable energy is seasonal. Outputs from solar and wind powered projects will vary throughout different months. With this in mind, lenders will consider and vary a repayment plan based on the escalating profits.

Historically, project finance has been difficult to obtain for renewable energy, as this technology has been new and difficult to forecast in terms of profitability. Research in the past decade as well as the current tax incentives inspiring consumer demand mean that these projects are solidly profitable in the long term.

If you are considering a renewable energy project it's advisable to speak with finance professional. The topics touched upon here are only the tip of the iceberg. Renewable energy offers many financial benefits and options in regard to raising capital. By planning your project with an expert on board, you are bound to enjoy the dividends of a well planned project in the long term.

Troubled Cobra saved by Coors

2009-06-09T16:19:00.001+01:00

Carling owner Molson Coors has purchased a controlling stake in beer brand Cobra which has been experiencing difficulties with its creditors for some time. Cobra had entered pre-packaged administration on Friday which allowed Molson Coors to pay £14m for a 50.1% stake in the company. Wells & Young's brew Cobra beer under licence but neither them nor the brand's other unsecured creditors will receive a penny.

Debts of around £75 million were owed to Cobra's creditor's, £20 million of which was owing to secured creditors, mainly banks, and this figure will be repaid in full. Lord Bilimoria, owner of Cobra, said, "I feel gutted that the unsecured creditors aren't going to be paid."

Cobra made a loss of around £16m last year and in fact the company has never made a profit despite a 20% sales increase per annum. They have previously reduced their staffing levels from one hundred and fifty workers down to just fifty, including the departure of four company directors.

Bilimoria concluded, "We had no choice but to go down this route. I feel terrible about that." He will retain a stake in the company.

Mark Hunter, Chief Executive of Molson Coors UK said, "Cobra is an excellent fit with our UK portfolio – alongside international brands such as Grolsch, Blue Moon and Sol – and builds our commitment to offer customers an outstanding range of beers to pair with food." He continued, "The immediate business priorities are to ensure a smooth transition and continuity for Cobra's customers, while we integrate the Cobra brand and many of its people into our organisation."

£1.35m investment for QuantaSol

2009-06-04T12:21:00.001+01:00

QuantaSol, a Surrey-based solar cell business, has received £1.35m of investment from a syndicate of investors. Low Carbon Accelerator, who co-led the deal with Imperial Innovations, has invested £480,000 and has gained a 15.34% equity stake in return. Sheffield University Enterprise and Netscientific Ltd are amongst the other investors. Numis Securities’ stake also sees their Chief Executive Officer, Oliver Helmsley, join QuantaSol’s board as a non-executive director.

QuantaSol was formed in 2006. Their aim is to develop PV (solar photovaoltaic) cells which can be utilised to produce power when combined with mirrors and lenses using the expertise of many senior academics from the UK and throughout Europe, such as Dr. Massimo Mazzer from the National Research Council of Italy, Imperial College London’s Professor Keith Barnham and John Roberts from The University of Sheffield. This latest cash injection will be used to further the development prototypes of its ‘Quantum Well Photovaltaic cells’ and to promote their products and expand their customer base.

Chief Executive of QuantaSol, Kevin Arthur commented, “We are very grateful for the support that we have received from Low Carbon Accelerator and are looking forward to working with them and the rest of the investor group to take QuantaSol forward to become a major global supplier of third generation, high efficiency solar cells.”

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website: http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/latest-news/news2009/Investment-for-QuantaSol-20090604.htm

Trident Microsystems purchase Audio IC lines from Micronas

2009-05-21T18:31:00.003+01:00

US-based Trident Microsystems have acquired video and audio chip lines from Micronas Semiconductor, a chip firm from Switzerland. Included in this acquisition is the Semiconductor IP for an assortment of audio, demodulator and frame rate converter (FRC) products.

It was back in February that Micronas commenced the process of looking for a purchaser for its consumer division with the hope that they would be able to continue with some of their business and keep their staff. The benefit to them of this transaction is the attainment of seven million shares of Trident common stock and the authorisation to purchase up to 3 million more Trident shares.

As the deal was announced in April, Dr. Wolfgang Kalsbach from Micronas stated, “We are very satisfied that we found a new owner for the business, who will retain a number of employees in Germany, the Netherlands and our oversees locations”.
Trident has been through a program of expansion, increasing its activities within the European market. Their European headquarters are to be based in Munich where they have a design centre. Other centres in Europe are located in Freiburg, Germany and Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Trident’s CEO and President, Sylvia Summers Couder, commented, “This acquisition is an important step and catalyst in achieving our vision to re-emerge as a leading DTV multimedia solutions provider”.

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website: http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/latest-news/news2009/Trident-Microsystems-acquisition-20090521.htm

Beanstalk Management is nominated for prestigious M&A Award

2009-05-21T09:48:00.003+01:00

Beanstalk Management, the leading corporate advisory house, has been nominated for a prestigious M&A Award under the category of Corporate Finance Boutique of the Year. The M&A Awards recognise the achievements of management teams, advisers and financiers that have been involved in deals during the past 12 months.

“The nomination confirms Beanstalk’s place as a leading corporate advisory firm in both the consumer and technology sectors” said Richard Baker, Director at Beanstalk Management. “It recognises all that Beanstalk Management has achieved in our target sectors and our commitment to a client-lead approach to all client engagements.”

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website:
http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/about-us/pr2009/MA_award_nomination_pr_20090521.htm

Carbon Trust in £10m cleantech partnership with China

2009-05-12T13:00:00.002+01:00

A £10 million partnership between the UK’s Carbon Trust and China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation (CECIC) has been agreed. This partnership will help develop technologies in China aimed at reducing carbon dioxide output. Additionally this agreement will pave the way for British companies to export their low carbon technologies to China.

In addition to the £10 million intended to encourage the growth of new environmental technologies and provide investment for Chinese businesses exhibiting the right ‘green’ credentials it is hoped that there will be considerable funding forthcoming from both the private and the public sectors.

The Carbon Trust, whilst set up by the British Government in 2001, is an independent company designed to develop low carbon solutions for business. Already a success in the UK with seventeen million tonnes of carbon dioxide saved since 2001, they intend to double this total in the next few years.

Tom Delay of the Carbon Trust stated “China represents an exciting new market for clean technology businesses. We hope to act as a bridge for UK companies entering the Chinese low carbon marketplace and believe that our approach to low carbon innovation, coupled with CECIC’s expertise in clean energy in China, will open up new exciting opportunities for UK companies at the cutting edge of carbon reduction.”

CECIC is China’s only State Owned business involved with environmental finance schemes and is looking to make itself the largest investment supported stock corporate in the environmental arena.

That the UK can be at the forefront of such a project, clearly demonstrates how Britain has embraced the ethos of the low carbon Industrial Summit early in 2009.

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website: http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/latest-news/news2009/Carbon-Trust-in-cleantech-partnership-20090512.htm

Tracy Atkins Joins Beanstalk Management as Executive Assistant

2009-04-29T10:12:00.001+01:00

Beanstalk Management, the innovative corporate advisory house specialising in the small and mid-market, welcomes new arrival Tracy Atkins to its ranks.

“Tracy joins the Beanstalk team as executive assistant”, commented Richard Baker, Director. “As an experienced personal assistant, Tracy brings with her a varied background having worked for both multi-national and start-up companies across a range of business sectors. Tracy’s diverse and hands on experience made her an ideal fit.”

Tracy Atkins understands the challenges facing companies looking to raise finance. Tracy has supported start up companies including dreamticket.com and Silverjet Aviation Limited from concept through to launch, and has also provided support during a company merger and acquisition and run the due diligence process.

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website: http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/about-us/pr2009/Tracy_Atkins_pr_20090429.htm

More acquisitions planned for Unilever

2009-04-28T09:39:00.003+01:00

Press reports indicate that the recent acquisition of haircare brand TIGI by Unilever, the consumer goods giant, is only the beginning of what is thought to be a series of purchases yet to come. According to the reports, the company, whose long list of brands include Dove, Hellmann’s, PG Tips, Persil and Vaseline, are looking to extend their personal care range in addition to acquiring more consumer food brands.

According to the Sunday Times, Unilever is in bidding wars with Nestle over the purchase of Alpro Soya - a European business which is rumoured to currently fetch bids of £200m - while simultaneously planning the acquisition of Baltimore, the Russian ketchup maker for an estimated £50m.

Having gone through a reduction of its branded portfolio under the its former executive Patrick Cescau, it appears Unilever is now shifting its strategies to point in the opposite direction, if one is to judge from this recent acquisition hunt. Specifically, it is thought the company is looking to increase the number of brands in their personal care range through the purchase of Sara Lee’s arm of personal care brands, which includes Sanex deodorant and Brylcreem hair gel.

Founded by William Hesketh Lever in the late 19th century as a seller of soap and cleanliness products, Unilever has today grown to gigantic proportions, encompassing several brands of consumer products, and by its own estimate sells 150 million products worldwide every day.

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website: http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/latest-news/news2009/acquisition-plans-for-Unilever-20090428.htm

High tech industries to receive grants totalling £2.5bn

2009-04-23T10:21:00.005+01:00

Yesterday’s presentation of the Budget revealed that substantial amounts of government funding is to be granted to the technology industry. The Chancellor’s investments plans for 2009/10 specifically mentioning advanced manufacturing, digital communications and energy efficiency car and building design.

As a means of combating recession by inspiring industry growth, the Budget allocates investment grants to business as well as environment preserving schemes and alternative energy to support those industries. The government has also committed to implement the improvements outlined in the Digital Britain Report regarding broadband communications infrastructure.

John Higgins, director general at IT and manufacturing industry body Intellect, told Electronics Weekly: “The Chancellor is right to try and paint a picture of how technology can provide the high value jobs and economic growth of the future.”

The grants total £2.5bn, with £1.5bn invested in new eco-technology initiatives, and an additional £1bn in direct support of high tech companies. Specific projects or investment numbers were not mentioned in the plan, but further breakdowns of the ecology-related investment plans show £405m granted to companies who invest in energy-efficient manufacturing technologies, £435m of additional support for energy efficiency schemes, £525m for new-offshore wind farms, and £100m for local authorities, to be used in construction of energy efficient homes.

In addition to the grants, the Budget also introduces a doubling of capital allowance to 40%, as well as measures to help loss-making companies claim back more taxes paid in the last three years.

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website: http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/latest-news/news2009/Budget-grants-to-high-tech-industries-20090423.htm

Leading Business Broker Beanstalk Management Launches New Website

2009-04-17T14:44:00.002+01:00

Beanstalk Management has pleasure in announcing it's new look website at http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/.

Beanstalk Management is an innovative, expert corporate finance house specialising as a business broker. Founded in 2005, Beanstalk are industry experts in buying and selling businesses, raising finance and strategy consulting. Take a moment to explore our site and see how we can help you and your business at http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/.

We value your comments and would like to hear from you so please contact us with your feedback.

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website:
http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/about-us/pr2009/new_website_pr_20090417.htm

Scottish wind turbine manufacturer receives £500,000 investment

2009-04-17T09:53:00.002+01:00

Small Scotland-based wind turbine manufacturer Proven Energy Ltd. has received an investment of £500,000 (USD $672,000) from Cleantech investor Low Carbon Accelerator. The investors hope to propel the company’s product development as well as expand senior management.

Formed three years ago, Proven Energy has succeeded in raising finances totalling £7.15 million (USD $9.6 million), with equity ownership at 49.83 percent. This latest investment will be used to accelerate product development of the enhanced turbines and prepare for the next phase of growth by expanding the senior management team. Additionally there will be an upgrade to the production of quality-control systems.

Proven Energy’s sales projections are optimistic, and perhaps rightfully so. In a time when wind power is in high demand; governments worldwide offering tariff support and capital grant programs, and the United States intending to extend its wind power program to cover up to 20% of the nations total electricity needs by 2030, the company predicts sales of more than £100M p.a. in the next five years. Regularly delivering small-scale, high-performance wind turbines for prolific clients like BP, Sainsbury’s, BT and B&Q, Proven Energy has already manufactured and installed more than 2,000 turbines worldwide.

Claiming its designs so robust they can operate “even in hurricane force wind”, Proven Energy became the first company in the world to power a polar base earlier this year; the International Polar Foundation base in Antarctica. This has never been done before and constitutes a milestone in the industry.

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website: http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/latest-news/news2009/Scottish-wind-turbine-investment-20090417.htm

Equipment markets to start recovering towards end of year

2009-04-15T15:44:00.002+01:00

While the PC market reaches the bottom of its growth pattern, and excess inventories have been reduced to provide a stabilising influence, research predicts that the equipment markets are likely to begin their recovery no sooner than Q4 of this year.

The study, carried out by market research company Gartner, cautions that uncertainty still lingers as to the effectiveness of government stimulus packages and macroeconomic recovery, citing the latest macroeconomic forecasts and industry supply and inventory patterns. Data indicates that almost all sectors of the electronic equipment market are still declining.

Klaus Rinnen and Jim Tully, Gartner analysts, wrote in the company’s Semiconductor DQ Monday Report: "Markets must hit bottom before we see a rebound to positive growth."

"The bottoming of PC-related production is breathing the first signs of hope into the electronics supply chain. Still, the majority of the industry will not bottom until the third quarter of 2009.”

According to the analysts, while the first signs of growth will be the seasonal buying patterns in the PC market during Q4, overall sustainable growth could be pushed well into 2011, with sectors outside the PC market showing slow growth in 2010, the first sector of prominence likely to be mobile phones.

"While the emerging supply chain will be leaner and stronger, it will look different,” Tully and Rinnen said. “Awareness of risk both up and down the supply chain is a must for industry players to maximize their opportunities."

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website:
http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/latest-news/news2009/electronic-equipment-market-recovery-20090415.htm

Innocent Drinks sells £30m stake to Coca-Cola

2009-04-09T12:04:00.004+01:00

It has been confirmed that Coca-Cola, the worlds largest manufacturer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates, has taken a considerable stake in the smoothie pots brand - Innocent Drinks.

According to a spokesperson at Innocent, the stake was said to be between 10%-20%, giving a business valuation of the Shepherd’s Bush-based company at around £200-£300m. The newly-acquired share would be used to help stabilise its investment in the UK, improve international growth and provide an increase in media-based advertising.

Richard Reed, Co-Founder of Innocent Drinks, emphasised that the company would remain an independent business, sticking true to its family-values, regardless of its close-ties with the multinational. “We’re excited by this minority investment, as it enables us to do more of what we are here to do: get natural, healthy products to as many people as possible,” adding that “We will be the same people, in the same offices, making the same products in the same way."

As well as expanding its international ties, the extra money will be used for raising finance. Reed added: “With 82% market share, we are going to support this category to get it back in growth and have already seen the fruits of this labour in March 2009, with like-for-like sales up on March 2008."

Coca-Cola as a stakeholder will certainly be a catalyst for controversy, being an American-based, corporate entity which has in the past caused concern over its human-rights record.

Reed was quick to defend the decision by adding “it’s like having an older brother in the playground, we can ring them from for help from time to time”.

The unit president of Coca-Cola Europe, James Quincy, said that he was “delighted to have the opportunity to invest in Innocent’s future.”

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website: http://http://www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/news/Innocent_Drinks_sells_stake_news_20090408.htm

BEANSTALK PERSPECTIVES – APRIL 2009: Preparing to sell your business

2009-04-06T12:55:00.004+01:00

Beanstalk Management has been working with a number of clients who are looking to sell their businesses within the next 1-5 years. Here is our advice on some of the things which should be done to prepare a business for sale. Being prepared is the key to maximising the value of any business as well as ensuring that the sale goes as smoothly as possible.

When planning to sell a business, it is important to remember that selling a business can take up to 12 months and may involve on-going commitment during a transition period.

1. Value your business

It is important to understand a realistic value for your business as the very starting point for any divestiture process. Any valuation needs to be objective, industry specific and from an external source.

A valuation will give you a base-line for gauging buyer offers and will give you an idea of what you can expect to net from the sale. It will also tell you your business’s market position, financial situation, strengths and weaknesses.

Valuations can be obtained from an accountant or a recognised business broker. It is important to make sure the company performing a valuation has access to your most recent management accounts and financial forecasts. Most importantly, they need to understand current industry sentiment and have good proxies for valuing your business - experience in selling firms of your type is obviously helpful as well.

2. Prepare your accounts

Potential buyers will generally require three years of historic accounts. The better prepared and more professional your accounts, the better the impression you'll make. Solid accounts also make the buyer’s due diligence more straightforward.

3. What is the business’ true profitability?

Many small and medium sized businesses claim a variety of non-operational expenses. Understand what these expenses are and have supporting documentation to justify their exclusion.

In addition, there may be infrequent expenses (often called “one-offs”) that the business has incurred during the past three years that should be excluded in a buyer's analysis of recurring cash flow.

4. Financial advice

An early conversation with a financial advisor to understand both the personal and corporate tax situation is imperative. An understanding of your tax situation will impact timing and may influence deal structure.

5. Legal and statuary paperwork

Review your incorporation papers, permits, licensing agreements, employment contracts, leases, customer and vendor contracts. Make sure they are readily available, current and in order.

6. Succession planning

If the owners of the business are absolutely vital it is important to know who will support a buyer after the divestiture transaction. There should be a succession plan in place before going to market. It is particularly important to show how any day-to-day responsibilities of the current shareholders can be picked up by other resource post acquisition.

7. Divestiture motivation

Buyers are always curious and somewhat sceptical as to why a seller wants to exit a business. Be prepared to articulate your reasons.

8. Build your advisory team

Strongly consider hiring an intermediary, either a business broker or an investment banker, to represent you and help you through the selling process. Start interviewing business brokers, legal representatives and accountants who are proficient in mergers and acquisitions.

Finally, always keep focused on running your business. It is all too easy to let the performance of the business decline because you're too focused on the sale of your business. This will only give buyers additional negotiating power to lower their offers. A great advisory team will let you focus on running the business while they get on with the job of selling it for its maximum value.

Innovative Corporate Finance House Beanstalk Management to Run Seminar on the “Art of Business Exit” in Conjunction with SETsquared

2009-04-06T12:46:00.004+01:00

Beanstalk Management will be running a seminar on “The Art of Business Exit – selling your business for its maximum value” on Thursday 23rd April in Bristol. The seminar provides a step-by-step guide to how to sell your business for its maximum value and is highly relevant to technology businesses looking to exit over the next few years. The seminar is to be run by Matthew Byatt and Richard Baker, both Directors at Beanstalk Management.

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Read the original at the Beanstalk Management website:
www.beanstalkmanagement.co.uk/about-us/pr2009/setsquared_pr_20090406.htm