Beth, who joined Palatine in June 2007 after completing an MBA at the Manchester Business School, recently completed the management buyout of leading financial services company MoneyPlus Group and the secondary management buyout of Wealth at Work, a leading provider of financial education and employee wealth management services in the workplace. She has joined the boards of both companies and will support the management team in their growth plans.

Beth is an active voice on the pro.manchester New Business Committee and is involved in Future pro.manchester initiatives. Prior to joining Palatine she was a senior management consultant delivering projects for major companies around the world.

Beth Houghton, investment director, Palatine Private Equity said: “We’ve had a really successful year in 2011 and I’m looking forward to an even busier 2012. As well as having a number of new investment opportunities in the pipeline, I am enjoying working with the portfolio companies and supporting them in achieving their plans.”

Gary Tipper, managing partner at Palatine Private Equity, said: “Beth has earned her position as investment director after successfully completing two deals in the past year and joining the board of both companies. As part of our team she has developed strong networks both locally and nationally and actively contributes to the entrepreneurial ethos of our business.”

This office will become the major management centre for Air Energi’s activity in both Geoje and Ulsan and will provide a full range of manpower related services for major oil companies working in the Hyundi, Daewoo and Samsung fabrication yards

Manton Townend, Air Energi VP for Asia Pacific commented: “This enhanced presence will help us identify more opportunities, get closer to our clients and demonstrate our capability whilst promoting the brand”

Based in Bromley, Kent, Selection is an independent provider of IT services to the SME market, delivering a broad array of managed services and solutions, bespoke projects and expert, strategic advice. The combination of Selection and Cloud Data creates a business with 360 employees and revenues of £28m.  It will have extensive capabilities in the hosting and cloud computing arena and is a major step to building a substantial business offering a full suite of IT services. 

The management team comprises Grahame Harrington and Harvey Downer, the current MD and FD of Selection who have been the operational management team in the business for the last ten years.  They will be joined by the Cloud Data team; Anthony Galley joins as Chairman of the company and Glenn Carroll as Business Development Director.  Prior to starting Cloud Data, Anthony and Glenn built the ISP business, Mistral which they successfully sold to Kcom in 2007.  They will enhance the strategic capability of the team and bring experience of making and integrating acquisitions.

Palatine has provided equity funding alongside the senior management teams of both Selection and Cloud Data.  This investment will support the continued growth of the group as it looks at further acquisitions and extending its offering to customers.  Tony Dickin, Jonny Allatt and James Winterbottom made up the deal team for Palatine with Dickin and Allatt both joining the Selection board. 

Tony Dickin, Partner, Palatine Private Equity, said:  “We are delighted to have backed the management buyout of Selection.  We believe the combination of Selection and Cloud Data creates a strong platform from which to build a significant IT services business to take advantage of the trends in the sector.  We look forward to working with the team to deliver on these strategic objectives.”

Grahame Harrington, Managing Director, Selection Services, said: “The support of Palatine in this exercise has been invaluable and very significant for Selection Services. It enables us to build upon our established service portfolio, increasing our capabilities and consequently our client options. We anticipate it will accelerate our growth and establish Selection as a market leading Managed Service Provider, offering enterprise-wide solutions predominately to the SME community.”

Anthony Galley, the new Chairman, said: “The combination of Selection and Cloud Data comes at a pivotal time as the IT sector moves towards increased outsourcing and the adoption of cloud services.  I am very excited about the opportunity the combined group presents.  We are looking to exploit this through both organic and acquisitive growth and expect to be making the first acquisition in the next few months.”

Selection Services delivers a broad array of IT managed services and solutions including flexible and reliable IT support; bespoke IT project delivery; and expert, strategic advice.

Alongside the buyout Selection completed the acquisition of Cloud Data, a hosting and disaster recovery services business, providing Selection with extensive capabilities in the hosting and cloud computing arena.

Selection Services employs over 350 people including more than 180 technical engineers. The business operates from four offices around the UK, supporting and advising more than 500 clients.

MPG has acquired three customer back books, including those of Manchester-based Byrom & Keeley and Debt Solver. Along with the back books, MPG has also acquired EasierDebt, which will continue to operate from its Cardiff base as part of MPG. No financial details for the transactions have been disclosed.

With its head office in Altrincham, MPG now employs more than 160 people and offers a range of services to improve consumers’ financial situations, including debt management plans and IVAs.

Palatine backed the management buyout of MPG in June 2011, with support from PNC Business Credit, and will continue to support the growth of the Group as it looks at further acquisitions. MPG also plans to extend its offering to consumers into other areas, including insurance and legal services, under the MoneyPlus brand.

Ed Fazakerley, partner at Palatine Private Equity, said: “When we backed the management buyout of MoneyPlus Group, the strategy was to grow the business both organically and via acquisitions. We are delighted that Chris and the team has been able to complete and integrate these deals so quickly and there are a number of further acquisition opportunities currently being considered.”

Wealth at Work is a leading provider of financial education and employee wealth management services in the workplace. 

The Wealth at Work offering is unique in that it is designed specifically for the workplace and offers a complete education and wealth management service which is delivered by a team of specialists. Its client base spans a number of sectors and includes major FTSE employers including BT, BP and Marks & Spencer as well as a number of leading financial services companies. 

The company has educated over 30,000 employees covering a range of subjects from pension limits for high earners to share scheme diversification and redundancy to retirement planning.

Palatine has provided equity funding, alongside the management team led by CEO David Cassidy, to acquire the business from LDC who originally backed the management team in 2009. 

The Wealth at Work offering is unique in that it is designed specifically for the workplace and offers a complete education and wealth management service which is delivered by a team of specialists. Its client base spans a number of sectors and includes major FTSE employers including BT, BP and Marks & Spencer as well as a number of leading financial services companies.  The company has educated over 30,000 employees covering a range of subjects from pension limits for high earners to share scheme diversification and redundancy to retirement planning.

Gary Tipper, Ed Fazakerley and Beth Houghton made up the deal team for Palatine with Tipper and Houghton joining the Wealth at Work board. Palatine will work with the management team in identifying acquisition opportunities as well supporting the continuing organic growth of the business.

Gary Tipper, Managing Partner, Palatine Private Equity, said: “We are all looking forward to working with David and the team. Regulatory change and the need for employers to drive more employee engagement is driving demand for Wealth at Work services. This is creating significant opportunities both organically and via strategic acquisition in a fast changing market.”

David Cassidy, CEO, Wealth at Work, said: “This new significant investment into Wealth at Work will allow us to continue to grow quickly and therefore meet the rapidly increasing demand for our services which are now used by a number of the largest companies in the UK. I very much look forward to working with Palatine and further developing our offer to clients delivering innovations and setting new standards of best practise.”

The finalists have been announced by Insolvency Today and, following the final judging process, the winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony on the fifth of October at the Lancaster London.

Palatine backed the management buyout of MoneyPlus in June 2011. Based in Altrincham, MPG currently operates under a number of trading names, including Chiltern, The Debt People and Hamilton Locke. The business offers a range of services to improve a consumer’s financial situation including debt management plans and IVAs.

www.insolvencyandrescueawards.co.uk

It is easy to get hung up on “sector” but whichever one is considered, there will be some businesses that are more attractive than others within it. We adopt a generalist approach to sectors, drawing on genuine industry experts with experience of running businesses over the long term, to fully understand a sector and the challenges a company in it will face.

Investors are looking for a combination of growth opportunities and resilience, both of which can be demonstrated independently of sector. Businesses that show these characteristics will attract the attention of private equity.

That said, two of the sectors that have represented significant activity in the mid-market of late are business services and IT & software. Clearly each deal has its own specific drivers but various themes have prevailed in the current economic climate and in these sectors in particular, including the outsourcing of non-core activities and regulatory change.

In turn, these have led to new growth opportunities and sector consolidation and created conditions that are ripe for innovative businesses developing new services or improving existing ones.

Other sectors that have received private equity interest include telecoms and financial services. Whilst transactions in these sectors may be scrutinized closely and may be more challenging to complete, sector alone is not the determining factor in the attractiveness of a business.

Strong management teams regularly distinguish themselves more easily in difficult conditions, particularly where they have exploited opportunities for growth and operational improvement, and are usually critical to a successful investment.

In conclusion, sector performance is a key determinant of the challenge presented to a business, but it is the performance of and opportunities seized by individual businesses and their management teams that determine their attractiveness to private equity investors.

Tony Dickin, Partner, Palatine Private Equity, 29 July 2011

Through adding MoneyPlus Group’s debt solutions to an established financial services portfolio, the network’s member firms are better placed to help more of their vulnerable clients address their debt problems via a range of effective debt solutions, from flexible debt management plans to legally-binding IVAs.

MoneyPlus Group is a founding member of the Debt Managers’ Standards Association (DEMSA), the only organisation in the debt management industry whose Code of Conduct has OFT level two accreditation.

Adherence to DEMSA’s strict regulations and practices is engrained within the organisation, and guarantees fair and ethical treatment for every client, no matter what their circumstances.

Chris Davis, MoneyPlus Group’s CEO commented: “The regulatory standard of service from DEMSA, is fundamental to our policies and procedures, and was instrumental in securing the partnership with HomeLoan Partnership. We have worked with many brokers, and understand that reputation and integrity are important factors in building these relationships.  We are looking forward to a long and successful relationship with the HomeLoan Partnership team, where we can bring our expertise in debt solutions to more people and help them regain financial control.”