Maximising Shareholder Value – A Masterclass on Transformational Funding

This masterclass will be an informal and candid discussion between our guest speakers Andy Gregory (Regional Director, BGF), Paul Jones (Partner, Clearwater International), Paul McCluskey (Chief Financial Officer, Concept Life Sciences) and Iain Wolstenholme (Investment Director, Primary Capital). Attendees will also have the opportunity to raise questions and participate in an open discussion following the session.

Some of the crucial issues to be covered will include:

• What an investor will look for in your business and management team
• How the funding process works and what happens post-funding
• How to work successfully with an equity investor
• The benefits of bringing in an equity investor

Speaker bios:

Andy Gregory, Regional Director (North, North Wales and Northern Ireland), BGF
Andy is a chartered accountant with significant experience of regional private equity, having worked as a director in the Manchester offices of Isis Equity Partners, Bridgepoint, Royal Bank Development Capital and most recently Key Capital Partners. He has also seen life from the other side of the fence, having been Group Finance Director of Pennine Retail Systems Limited a leading UK retail software company. Andy is now a member of the BGF Investment Committee and leads the BGF Investment Team in the North, North Wales and Northern Ireland.

Paul Jones, Partner, Clearwater International
Paul is a founding partner of Clearwater International based in Manchester. Paul has over 20 years of experience in corporate advisory including advising on company disposals and acquisitions, management buy-outs and corporate restructuring. He has completed a significant number of transactions within engineering and technical services, industrials, facilities management, consultancy services and business outsourcing. Recent deals include Burnt Tree, Waterfall, Hobs, Kindertons, Stroma, Inviron, Capula and Chargepoint. Paul is a partner in the Industrials and Chemicals Team of Clearwater International. Clearwater International focuses on providing corporate finance advice for mid-market transactions including M&A, private equity, debt advisory and restructuring services. The business has completed more than 700 transactions worth an aggregate value of over €14bn.

Paul McCluskey, Chief Financial Officer, Concept Life Sciences Limited
Paul has held senior financial roles with a number of major blue chip companies, including Glaxo Smith Kline, BAE Systems and RHM Foods. He also worked in KPMG’s Management Consultancy Practice before moving to Synexus Clinical Research plc in 2006. Paul was part of the team which took Synexus private in 2007, successfully exiting in 2011. In Summer 2014 Paul was a member of the team which founded Concept Life Services which, in an award winning transaction backed by private equity, acquired three companies to form an international scientific laboratory and consultancy business employing 500 people.

Iain Wolstenholme, Investment Director, Primary Capital
After qualifying into Arthur Andersen’s Corporate Restructuring Team, Iain spent 10 years as a Corporate Finance Adviser with both PWC and EY. In 2007 Iain joined Gresham Private Equity as a partner and oversaw a number of successful investments, including Hotter, ICR Integrity and Olaer Group. In September 2014 Iain joined Primary Capital to lead the opening of its Manchester office. Primary is a leading provider of private equity finance for UK based growth companies valued between £20 million and £100 million.