FRP boosts corporate finance arm with Spectrum acquisition

FRP Advisory has purchased Spectrum Corporate Finance in a deal worth more than £9 million. The move boosts FRP’s debt advisory wing, as it looks to help clients address strategic ambitions and provide support amid the turbid UK economy.

Spectrum Corporate Finance was founded in 2010 by Simon Davies, Clive Hatchard and Ian Milne, and has since become the largest independent corporate finance and debt advisory firm in the South of England. It provides strategic support and advice for owner-managed businesses and their funders across the UK mid-market, with particular focus on the central South, South East and London markets.

In 2020, Spectrum’s corporate finance team advised on 25 completed transactions with a combined deal value of more than £900 million, including acquisition of VIPR by Tenzing Private Equity, the sale of Babble on behalf of LDC to Graphite Capital, and the sale of Porterhouse Medical to imc group.

At the same time, its debt advisory team also continued to support clients with acquisition finance, capital raising and refinancing projects, advising on £440 million of debt raised for business owners, investors and management teams looking to complete a transaction or to support future growth.

FRP Advisory is one of the UK’s largest independent business advisory firms specialising in corporate restructuring, corporate finance, forensic services, pensions advisory and debt advisory. The purchase of Spectrum, which will conclude for £9.4 million, bolsters FRP’s offering to clients looking to maintain their expansion programmes in spite of the economic slowdown brought on by Covid-19.

Commenting on the transaction, Geoff Rowley, CEO of FRP, said, “Spectrum is a fantastic business and the team has built a strong reputation, particularly within the UK private equity community, for the quality of service it provides to its clients. We have a strong cultural alignment and this deal not only strengthens FRP’s position in the UK mid-cap transactional advisory market, it enables our combined teams to continue supporting clients post COVID-19 as we help to address both their strategic ambitions and provide support as challenges arise. 

With more than 60 partners and more than 400 staff, Operating from 20 offices across England and Scotland, FRP’s national corporate finance and debt advisory teams now comprise 48 fee earners, including 18 partners, across nine locations. As part of the transaction, all 27 Spectrum employees will join FRP, including its co-founders and Mark Farlow, Simon Sherliker, Darren Miller and James Mines, who all join as partners. They will be joined by 12 fee earners, four research analysts and four colleagues in support services. 

Co-founder of Spectrum Simon Davies stated, "We are delighted to have found in FRP a partnership that shares our values of professionalism, quality, entrepreneurial spirit and achieving the best possible outcome for clients. We are immensely proud of what we have achieved at Spectrum over the past 10 years, and as a new chapter starts with FRP, we are excited at the opportunities this new partnership presents for our team and our clients. We are looking forward to continuing to grow our corporate finance and debt advisory businesses nationally, as a combined group.”

The deal comes six months after FRP also purchased JDC Group. The move allowed FRP to emphasise its position as a nationwide provider of corporate finance and debt advisory services in the UK. Now, the firm hopes it can maintain this momentum with the further acquisition of Spectrum.