FRP boosts special situation offering with specialist hire
Ben Hughes has joined FRP Corporate Finance. Arriving as a partner in its London team, he will support the firm’s special situations M&A team, at a time of growing demand.
A variety of headwinds has seen the number of distressed companies in the UK rise – and with it, retail, consumer goods, leisure and construction firms in particular have become very attractive opportunities for so-called special situations deals – purchasing their assets once they enter administration procedures. With these sectors – and others – seeing this trend continue deep into 2024, demand for special situations M&A support is also growing.
To help meet those client needs, FRP Corporate Finance has strengthened its special situations M&A expertise with the appointment of Ben Hughes as a partner in its London team. Hughes will now work closely with partner Matthew Flower and colleagues across other FRP offices and pillars to support FRP’s special situations M&A cases nationwide, advising on both sell-side and buy-side mandates to help clients navigate critical junctures.
Flower remarked, “Ben has a proven track-record for delivering great results for businesses in very challenging situations. His expertise and experience will only help us continue to deliver specialist support for our clients across our UK-wide office network. It’s great to have him on board.”
Hughes joins FRP Corporate Finance from FTI Consulting, where he set-up and led its special situations M&A offering across the UK – delivering solutions for clients facing challenging, complex or business critical issues. Initially beginning his career in restructuring, Hughes transitioned into corporate finance in 2010 and subsequently worked on a broad range of both mainstream and special situations M&A mandates across a variety of sectors, including retail, leisure and healthcare.
Hughes added, “With businesses across many sectors still facing a challenging trading and funding environment, it is likely we’ll see more and more companies needing special situations M&A advice in the months ahead. FRP corporate finance has built itself a great reputation in the market for the quality of its offering and the results it achieves. It is a fantastic business and I’m excited to get started with Matthew and the team.”
His appointment comes as FRP continues to grow its corporate finance footprint and team across the UK. Last year, it advised on more than £1.5 billion worth of deals nationally – and looking to build on this, in July, the business established its first Welsh office after acquiring Cardiff-based Lexington Corporate Finance, which brought Lexington’s founder, Gary Partridge and 14 other Lexington team members to FRP.
